Kiss It Better
by heytheregisela
Summary: Eddwarda (Fem!Edd) always cared less about how she looked or what she did. She was just a teenage girl who loved school, her friends, and had a hopeless crush on Kevin. But when high school bullies intervene and make insecurities come out, Eddwarda decides it's time to switch things up about herself. ((KevEdd)) - ((Cowritten with Sexxibug ! :D ))
1. Chapter One

**A/N: **And here's a new KevEdd fanfic!This one's a collab with Sexxibug (username on here an tumblr) ^_^

It is fem!Edd and regular Kevin, and well, the summary says it all lol.

Nat belongs to Acid, yeaaaaah !

* * *

Eddwarda smiled when she heard the familiar voices of Ed and Eddy, and she turned away from her locker to find them heading her way. Eddy seemed to be going on about something that was clearly more than amusing to Ed, and Eddwarda couldn't help but smile a little more at the sight. She grabbed her Chemistry textbook before closing her locker just as her friends caught up to her. Eddy leaned against the locker next to Eddwarda's as Ed merely stood in front of them.

"Hi, Double D," Ed greeted her with his usual grin.

Double D was about to answer when she felt herself being lift off the ground by Ed. His arms were wrapped tightly around her and instead of protesting, Double D sighed and patted his back.

"Good morning, Ed," she greeted, and Ed let her down. Double D smiled though as she straightened up her oversized sweater.

Eddy shook his head, but laughed. "We came here to ask where you were earlier," he spoke, "but I'm gonna go with you just left early."

"Ah, yes," Double D answered, "I had a few things to talk about with my English teacher," she said as she and the others started walking down the hall, "She told me to meet her before school began, therefore I-" Double D's eyes widened slightly.

Eddy blinked, waiting for Double D to continue her sentence, but when she didn't, he looked in the direction Double D was staring at.

"What?" Eddy asked her.

Ed looked, too, and tilted his head as he tried figuring out what his friend was staring at.

"Are you staring at Kevin and... that other dude with the stupid hair?" Eddy squeezed his eyebrows together, "whatever his name was." He shrugged.

"Nathan," Double D answered him, "and no, I was not paying any attention to them." She stepped in front of the bulletin board posted right next to where Kevin and Nathan were talking.

"I was checking the updates," she said.

Kevin looked at her over his shoulder and smiled softly at the three Eds. "Oh, hey."

"Hey... you..." Nat said, squinting his eyes at Eddy, but he smiled when he faced Ed, "and Ed..." a grin replaced his small smile once he looked at Eddwarda. "And _hello_, Double Cutie."

Kevin rolled his eyes, but said nothing of it.

"Yeah, hi, whatever you're called," Eddy said to Nat, crossing his arms.

Nat raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, "If that was supposed to offend me, it didn't, considering that you're the only one who doesn't know what I'm called." He pointed to himself proudly.

The Eds stared at him with furrowed eyebrows and Eddy decided against saying anything more on that subject.

"Well," Double D broke the silence, "Good morning to you, two gentlemen."

Kevin smiled at her as he asked, "Uh, how ya been?"

"I've been well," Eddwarda sighed though and added, "Nothing I could complain about." And smiled softly back at the redhead.

"If there ever is something you gotta complain about," Nat started, "let us know and we'll handle it." He smirked at her.

And Double D smiled a little wider at that.

"I'm sure there won't be any of that," she assure Nat.

"And if there was," Eddy said, stepping up, "Lumpy and I would handle it. Not you two."

Kevin squinted his eyes at Eddy. "Having help wouldn't kill you."

"Yeah, but it would probably kill _you._"

Kevin took a step forward but Nat placed his hand on Kevin's chest, holding him back.

"We could handle it," Nat told Eddy.

Double D could see the tension between them and sighed loudly. She shook her head. Why was it so difficult for them to even get along?

"Anyway," Nat said, noticing the discomfort in Eddwarda's eyes, "there better be something good for lunch today. I'm starving."

"Did you skip breakfast _again_?" Eddwarda asked him.

Nat smiled sheepishly, "Maybe."

Kevin rolled his eyes, "Then don't complain when your stomach won't shut up in class."

Ed laughed at the way Kevin treated Nathan and Eddwarda smiled. Though when she saw Eddy with his eyebrows furrowed, she knew it was time they'd get going.

She started stepping away from them, looking at Ed and Eddy to follow. "It was nice speaking with you," she said more to Kevin than to Nat, and Kevin smiled.

"Yeah, later," he said, waving at her and the other two as they walked off.

Nat wrapped his arm around Kevin and Kevin groaned. The teal haired teen ignored it as he sighed.

"She's cute, ain't she?" He asked Kevin, and Kevin pushed him off.

"Are we still on for tonight?" Eddy asked Eddwarda as they headed down another hall.

"Yes," she answered, "that is if you still want to."

Eddy grinned lopsidedly as he shrugged a shoulder, "Well, yeah."

"Up for what?" Ed asked, "What are we doing tonight?"

The other two exchanged looks, not knowing exactly how to break it to Ed that they had plans for just the two of them. And with the way Ed was staring at them, they almost couldn't.

"Uh..." Eddy tried making up an excuse, but nothing was coming to mind, and he quickly looked at Double D again.

Double D raised her eyebrows and shook her head. She didn't want to be the one to give that news to Ed.

"Oh, come on," Eddy practically begged her.

"Oh, I..." And Double D sighed in defeat. She placed her hand on Ed's shoulder and said, "I would tell you, Ed," she started, the girls' restroom in her peripheral vision. She started by slowly and casually backing away from the two.

"But I have some things to attend to at the moment," she continued her sentence, "and Eddy will let you know!"

"Wait, what?!"

Eddwarda headed into the restroom before Eddy could stop her and protest. The last time they had made plans without Ed, she had to be the one to tell him. It was Eddy's turn.

Eddwarda stood aside as some girls walked out and once the sink area was empty enough, she walked over to a mirror and set her things on the edge of the counter. A group of girls were gossiping about some nonsense that Double D almost rolled her eyes at, but she ignored them as she tucked in some strands of hair into her beanie that were bothering her.

"What I'm wondering about is when the hell did those long denim skirts come back in style?" One of the girls asked.

Double D froze, knowing they were referring to her.

"They didn't," another girl answered, and they laughed about it as if it was one of the most funniest things.

Double D looked at them. They weren't facing her, but they were still laughing. Double D frowned as she grabbed her things and quickly walked out.

She tried not to let other people affect the way she felt— honestly, she tried— but sometimes… She sighed and went to find her two friends, pushing that interaction to the back of her mind. There was still a little time left before class started.

"Don'tcha remember, lumpy? You wanted some time to yourself to watch that monster movie marathon, right?!" Eddy gave a nervous laugh and saw Eddwarda approach them. "Tell 'im, Double D! Ed doesn't remember that he made plans for himself for tonight, remember?"

Even though she hated being dishonest, she couldn't bear to tell Ed that they were excluding him from something. "T-that's correct, Eddy! Don't you remember, Ed? You wanted to watch movies tonight all by yourself!"

"But why wouldn't I want my two best friends there too?" Ed pouted.

The other two Eds looked at each other and shrugged. "That's what we thought too, buddy! But we figured, eh, let's give the ol' Ed some alone time." Eddy coughed, hoping his lying skills were still up to par.

This seemed to convince Ed, as his pout turned into a smile as he hugged his two best friends. "But tomorrow Ed and his buddies will have tons of fun in the sun!"

Eddwarda smiled. "Of course, Ed. It's almost time for class, and I believe it is time for us to part ways. See you in fourth period!"

* * *

Fourth period was the only class that the Eds had together—coincidentally, it was also the class that Kevin and Nat were in as well. It was their standard Health class, so there was no academic prerequisite. Eddwarda was thrilled to have a class with her best friends, for as they grew older, the classes they shared dwindled, and this was likely to be one of the last classes they shared.

"Can anyone tell me the side effects of smoking that we learned about?" Their teacher asked the class. Eddwarda's hand shot up, and the teacher called on her to answer.

"Oh, there are many! Stained teeth, shortness of breath, reduced lung capacity, just to name a few—"

"Nerd!" shouted a girl's voice in the back and a few of their classmates giggled. Nat turned around sharply and flipped the girl off. "Leave it alone, Nathan…" whispered Double D. "It's alright."

"Ladies, please, get along. Eddwarda, you are correct. Anyone else know any side effects of smoking?"

Nat wasn't convinced. "You sure you're alright?" he asked. Double D gave him a smile and nodded. "Positive." Although she really wasn't, she wouldn't want to make Nat worry.

"If you say so…" he winked at her and blew her a kiss. "Knock it off, loser!" Kevin harshly whispered behind him.

Eddy noticed the interaction between them, but said nothing. The one class the three of them shared, and Shovelchin and Goldilocks had to ruin it. He stopped thinking about the two boneheads and returned his attention to the teacher, where she was still talking about smoking. Jesus, like he didn't know all this already?

"Okay class, we are going to split up in teams of four, with one leftover team of five. Since we are wrapping up our unit on smoking, I want you to move ahead to the next chapter on heavy drugs. Pick your groups and I will assign you a drug."

Eddy hurriedly grabbed Double D at the same time Nat did. Honestly, this dude could get any chick he wanted, why is he so bent on Double D?

Double D blushed at the sudden contact. "Now now, please, gentlemen, I believe we can be the group of five!"

Eddy scoffed, "I think your socks on too tight, sockhead, who's our fifth?"

She started to blush. "Why, um, we wouldn't want to leave Kevin out, would we? Unless…unless Nathan and Kevin would rather be in a different group, in that case I would completely understand—"

"No, I wanna be with you." Kevin interjected, and with that remark Double D's blush darkened and her breath caught in her throat. "You—you mean you wouldn't mind being in our group, yes?"

Kevin gave a lopsided smile "Yeah, that."

Eddy grimaced "Alright, cut the chatter, lets just get this stupid assignment over with already."

* * *

Once health class was over, Eddy and Ed walked out of health class with Double D and said their goodbyes as they walked away. Double D had gym the next period, same as Kevin and Nat so they always walked to class together. Gym was on the other side of the campus so Double D encouraged the two boys to "Step lightly, gentlemen!"

"So, Double Darling," Nat started and Double D huffed at the nickname. "Do you have any plans for tonight?"

She bit her lip as she thought of her plans with Eddy after school. "Oh, you know, just spending some time with my friends, nothing out of the ordinary. And yourselves?"

"Just football practice and stuff, you know, the usual." Nat replied. "We don't really do much besides that."

"You know, you should hang out with us more often" Kevin spoke up, catching Double D by surprise.

"Oh," she replied, "I would like that." She was not entirely sure that Kevin meant that, however. Nat and Kevin were part of the football team, and even though they were friends… Kevin could get any girl that he wanted, and Nat was in the same boat. She still didn't know why they hung out with her as they did, but she didn't dwell on it too much.

"I'm serious, 'dara" Ah, there was the nickname he called her. "We wanna see you more."

She giggled. "Alright then. We should make plans soon." They soon approached the gym doors and Double D waved them goodbye.  
"See you two after class!"


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: Okay, I just want to clear things up for those who kept going on about how they weren't sure if this was really KevEdd or not. Yeah, it is. Double D has a crush on Kevin and Kevin only. If someone else were to like her, she wouldn't even care because she wants Kevin. Sure Nat flirts with her, but if you're familiar with Nat, you know he's basically like this with everyone whether he likes them or not, so that doesn't even count lol

And Eddy, well, just keep in mind, it's KevEdd for a reason.

I hope that cleared things up for you, and in this chapter, you'll always find out that there are things Eddy and Double D do, but don't jump to conclusions. Seriously... don't.

But if you have any more questions, just message me or sexxibug. We'll answer you! You're also free to message me on tumblr with any questions. Alright, enjoy chapter two! :D

UPDATE: I can't believe no one noticed that there was like A WHOLE CHUNK OF THIS CHAPTER MISSING LIKE JEEEZ. GOOD JOB GISELA! lol i mean i edited this and didn't even notice that omg WELL ANYWAY, sorry if you've already read this chapter, but maybe you can read it again! and it'll make like 1000000 times more sense now! SO YEAH PRETEND THAT LAST UPDATE NEVER HAPPENED OH MY GOSH! I AM SO SORRY for any confusion!

* * *

Double D quickly entered the ladies' side of the gymnasium and scurried to her locker to begin changing into her gym uniform. At first, she was bothered by changing in front of everyone else, but she soon realized that was silly. She grew out of her disdain for gym from middle school a tad bit; gym was still awful, but it wasn't excruciating like she used to think it was. Besides, Nazz was in this class with her, so it wasn't all bad. And _some _sports were fun, like swimming and badminton (even if they did leave her tired and winded).

She took off her mustard-yellow sweater and long denim skirt, folding them neatly and placing them in her gym locker. Now in her camisole and underwear, she started to unfold her gym uniform.

"Look, girls!" She heard a voice behind her say. "Check it out!" Double D didn't pay attention to the voice, still focusing on getting her uniform out.  
"I guess geek-bait is a girl after all!"

Oh, they were talking about her. She decided to turn around and confront these bullies, and she was faced with the ladies from earlier. Oh… yes, she remembers these girls. They've always been a little sour towards her, but never outright malicious, until today.

"Is there anything I can assist you with, ladies?" Double D asked, a slight hint of irritation in her voice.

"Yeah, what are you doing just standing there in your panties, you creep? Don't you have any shame? Put your clothes on, oh my god." _What…?_ she thought.

"Excuse me, but aren't _you_ the ones looking at me in my undergarments?" Double D said, her hands on her hip and her head cocked to the side. She wasn't going to let these girls get the best of her.

The "leader" of the girls scoffed and beckoned her posse to leave. "What a weirdo…"

"I could say the same for you…" she muttered when she was sure they were out of earshot. _What was the purpose of that confrontation? They didn't prove anything._

Sighing, she resumed changing into her gym clothes. Her lockermates gave her sympathetic looks and made sure to walk out to the gymnasium with her.

* * *

Once class officially began, the coach told the girls they were to be continuing their volleyball tournament. Double D was so over volleyball, she could not wait for the unit to be over. Once the coach released the girls to find their teams, Double D located Nazz and flagged her down. Thank the lord that Nazz was on her team, but the first team they were up against included the "leader" of the group and one of her lackeys.

Double D stood in the back center position, aiming to be the next server for this game. Although she hasn't hit the ball over the net in play, she was a surprisingly adequate server (partially thanks to Nazz for coaching her). Even though she detested this sport, she was excited to be a server and hopefully contribute something to her team.

The "leader" assumed the serving position on the opposite side and waited for the rest of the players to assume position. The coach, seeing that everyone was all ready, blew the whistle to start the games.

"Ready?" the girl said, poised to serve. "Heads up!"

Double D was paying attention, really she was, but the ball flew at her so fast and so hard that it was a complete and total shock to her when it hit her in the face. The impact sent her crashing down to the floor.

"Ohmygod, Dee, are you okay?!" Nazz ran over to her, crouching down to her level. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" she yelled at the girl who smashed Double D's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry! It was an accident. I'm sure she's okay."

"Watch _out_! What the hell…" Nazz muttered, turning her attention back to Double D. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?" she rubbed her cheek. "Can you feel that?"

Double D tried to blink back her tears. "I'm fine Nazz, I promise. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine, dude."

"I am fine It's just…it was just the imact." she gave a small laugh. "I'm fine. But I think I would like a drink of water."

"Hey!" the coach finally saw what was going on. "What happened?"

"It was an accident, coach!" the girl said. "Won't happen again!"

Except it kept happening. She got hit with six volleyballs during the course of the hour. Six! Two in the face, one in the back of her head, two in her chest, and one on her side. Yeah, this was no accident, but every time she was hit it was declared one.

"Oh, _I'm sorry_! It was an _accident,_ I _promise_! You're just a _barrel _of bad luck today, aren't you?!" one of the girls would say, followed by a hollow laugh. And Double D would just grimace and bear it, for she didn't want to risk another volleyball in the face, hoping every one would be the last and also fearing that it wasn't.

Once the class period was almost over, the coach blew her whistle and told the girls to go in the locker room and change. Nazz and Double D walked side by side.

"Hey, what's with those girls? What did you do to them?" Nazz asked.

"I have no idea!" Double D exclaimed. "Honestly, I don't think I did them any wrongdoing!" She shook her head. "I don't know what has gotten into them…first they insult my clothing, then they harassed me in the locker room, and then they pelted me with volleyballs…I don't know what to expect next."

"Aww, Double D, I bet they're just jealous of you." They reached Double D's gym locker, Nazz's was on the other side of the locker room. "You gonna be okay by yourself or do you want me to stay with you?"

Double D gave a small smile. "I'll be fine Nazz, thank you for offering, though. I don't know what else they have to do to me today, I think I'll be okay for the rest of the day…" she trailed off. "I hope."

Nazz looked unsure, but she trusted Double D's judgement. "Well, if you say so, dude… just holler if you need me."

As Nazz headed to her locker, Double D gave her a wave goodbye. She then turned to her locker and started to open the combination. "33…" she muttered under her breath, "11…" her cheeks slightly blushed as she remembered that was Kevin's football jersey number, "…28" and her locker was open. She took off her shirt and shorts and started to fold them up.

She kept replaying what Nazz said in her head. "They're just jealous." She scoffed at the thought. _Preposterous. What could those girls be jealous of?_ She chuckled at the thought. _Absolutley nothing, that's what_.

"Hey, poindexter." she heard a voice behind her. She turned, and saw the same girls. _What…? Again?_

"Oh, hello. Come to stare at me while I'm changing again?" Now that the threat of volleyballs was removed, she had no problem being her regular sassy self. Her lockermates giggled, and the comment enraged the leader of the group. She stormed towards Double D.

"That smart mouth of yours is going to cost you," she said, inches from her face. "Learn some _respect_," she said as she slammed Double D's head against the locker. She saw stars as a sharp pain raced through her head. Her eyes started watering as a few tears leaked out of her eyes and cascaded down her face. "_Dammit_," she thought to herself. "_I showed weakness. I showed weakness." _

"Hey!" "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" "Cut it out!" her locker mates (and some of the bullies) interjected. Her lockermates stood inbetween them, and the other girls in the posse took the leader and restrained her, leading her away from the area.

Her nose was bleeding, and her head throbbed. "Are you okay?" she kept hearing, but she brushed them off with an "I'm fine, I'm fine." as she wiped her face with the back of her arm. "Im fine, I'm fine," she repeated, although she was saying it more to herself rather than to convince anyone around her. One of the lovely girls put a piece of cloth under her nose and told her to be careful. "Can't believe she hit you hard enough to give you a nosebleed…"

"Jeez, those girls really have it out for you…" another girl muttered, picking up Double D's clothes that fell on the ground. "They have a new girl every week, it seems. This just happens to be your week." she gave an encouraging smile. "I mean, I was their target in early September… but they weren't this nasty."

Double D smiled at the encouraging words. "Thank you…I do hope they let up soon." She got up and straightened herself out. "I do suppose I should finish getting dressed…" she now realized that she's been in her skivvies the entire time. How embarassing! She quickly put on her skirt and sweater, just in time for the bell to ring. She took a deep breath and started to walk out.

"Do you want me to walk you to next period?" one of her lockermates asked.

"N-no thank you, I can handle it. I appreciate your gracious offer, though." Double D smiled, cloth still held to her nose. She gathered the rest of her stuff and left the gym, where she saw Kevin and Nat waiting for her outside the door. They were so nice to her, but she really didn't feel like talking to anyone…

"So yeah, I didn't really understand any of that but—" Nat looked over at Double D. "Hey! Oh! Oh my god, what happened to you?!" Nat said, and Kevin followed closely behind.

"O-oh, hello. Um…" she didn't know whether to tell them about the girls or not. She certainly didn't want to tell him the whole truth, but she didn't want to lie to them either.

"Jesus, you look awful." _Why thank you, Kevin._ She blushed and looked down at the ground. "Y-yes, well…s-something happened in gym class today… I-I don't really want to talk about it." Her eyes still pricked with hot tears, but she refused to let them fall in front of her friends.

Nat huffed. "This isn't the Double Dollface I know and love." he pouted. "Tell daddy all about it." he said as he snaked his arms around her.

"Nathan!" "Dude!" Double D and Kevin said at the same time. She giggled a bit, but then her face fell one more time.

"Don't be gross." Kevin grumbled. "Hey, it made her laugh, didn't it?" Nat stuck out his tounge and turned to face Double D. "Don't listen to grumpypants over there. Now what happened to you? I don't like seeing you hurt."

Double D gave in and sunk into Nat's arms a bit. "I…" she huffed. "I just had a mishap today, is all."

Nat narrowed his eyes. "Bullshit. Come on, let's go clean you up. Kevin's kinda right, you do look like a mess." _How embarrassing…_ Nat took her hand and pulled her towards the parking lot. "I have a first aid kit in my car!"

"I'll be fine, Nat! Please! We have class to get to…"

"Class can wait, you need to take care of yourself first." Kevin interjected. He followed behind Nat, but he looked bored and uninterested. Stoic.

She couldn't disagree with that logic. Besides, how would she be able to concentrate with her face feeling and looking like this? She sighed and allowed Nat to take her to Nat's car.

"You got your keys?" Kevin asked Nat, and Nat tossed them over to Kevin.

"Sit down," Kevin commanded, and Double D obliged, sitting in the passenger seat sideways so her feet were touching the asphalt. "I can clean myself up, really, gentlemen, you should be heading to class—"

"We're not letting you go anywhere until we know you're alright, right Kev?" Kevin grunted in response. Double D sighed and opened the glove compartment, but Kevin swiped the first aid kit before she had a chance to. "Excuse you!"

"You're excused. " He winked at her as he opened the kit. "Take that thing off your face."

She grimaced as she peeled the tissue off her face. "How does it look?" she asked the boys as she turned and looked at herself in the rearview mirror.  
"Oh good lord!"

Her face was covered in dried blood on the surface of her cheeks, her eyes were still red and puffy from crying, her face still pink from the two volleyballs that were imprinted on her face. She couldn't disagree with them when they said she looked awful.

"Can you feel your face?" Kevin reached out and touched her cheek. "Jesus, you took a pretty gnarly beating, 'Dara…"

Her lower lip quivered as the heat rose to her cheeks, '_I can't believe Kevin is seeing me in this state!_' she thought as she shut her eyes. Before she had a chance to run away, she felt something cool and wet on her cheek. _What…?_ She opened her eyes and saw Nat clean the blood off her cheeks.

"Don't cry, you'll be okay." he cooed. "You'll be fine," he said as he continued.

Kevin took the beanie off of her head, and ran a hand through her black bangs. "I'm not being weird," he said. "I'm just making sure you don't have any blood on your forehead or anything." he ruffled her hair and tossed the beanie back to her.

Once Nat was done, he took an handkerchief from his pocket and dried her face.

"Dude, you carry a handkerchief? What are you, my granddad? How old are you? What year is this?" Kevin said, and laughed harder and harder at each question he asked.

"Shut up, loser. It came in handy, didn't it?" he focused his attention back on Eddwarda. "So what happened in class?"

"I believe I've already told you, Nathan. I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright, face forward." she obliged for some reason, although she didn't know what he was up to. Nat winked at her and shut the door. "Excuse me!" she shouted. "What's going on?!"

Nat got into the driver's seat, and Kevin got into the back.

"Well, since you're being a pill, and you're not going to tell us what happened…" he started the car and started to pull out of the parking space. "We're just going to have to force it outta you."

"We-we're leaving school grounds?! Oh dear, oh dear oh dear oh dear, we are going to get in so much trouble! Why did I let you two convince me to go to the parking lot in the first place?! Oh, you two will be the death of me…"

"There she is!" Kevin exclaimed. "Double D's back in action!" both he and Nat laughed.

"It's not funny!" she huffed. "Where are you taking me?!"

"You'll see…" Nat looked at her and winked.

* * *

Eddwarda still couldn't even believe they were leaving the campus, and she watched as the school building became smaller and smaller the more Nat drove away from it. She had just ditched school. There was only one period left of the day, but still... she had ditched it. _They _had ditched it, and Eddwarda really didn't know how to feel about that. She knew complaining and talking on about it would do no good, because they were now far from school and there was no turning back now. She sat with her arms crossed and stared out the window. She wasn't mad. She was a bit worried about getting in trouble, but she wasn't mad at Nat and Kevin for taking her with them to wherever they were headed to.

She couldn't be mad, not after they had cared for her and cleaned her up. They didn't even have to do that. Eddwarda hadn't asked for help, but they did it anyway, and she decided that it was okay. It was okay that they had left school grounds when school was still in session. It was only one time. She mentally told herself it wouldn't happen again, definitely not! But it was happening now and she had no intentions of stopping it, not with Kevin there. She tried hiding her smile from them by turning her head more and keeping a serious face, but the corners of her lips kept twitching up.

"You alright with all of this now?" Nat asked her.

Double D sighed and shrugged slightly, "I can't say that I am, but it's too late now."

Kevin laughed and leaned forward in his seat to pat Double D's shoulder, "Come on, 'Dara. You'll love it."

"Do _you_ even know where we're heading to, Kevin?"

Kevin smiled and looked at Nat. Double D sighed again and allowed her smile to show as they sat in silence the rest of the car ride. When they pulled up to the ice cream parlor downtown, Double D's smile widened a bit, and somehow, she wasn't really surprised that's where they took her. She unbuckled her seat belt, but before she even tried opening the door, Nat stopped her.

"No, wait!" He said, and hurriedly got out of the car.

Kevin and Double D watched with furrowed eyebrows as Nat raced over to Double D's side. He opened the door for her, grinning as he always did, and Double D smiled again.

"Just felt like being a gentleman," Nat said to her with a wink.

Kevin rolled his eyes and stepped out of the car as well. They walked into the ice cream parlor where there was only a few customers since school wasn't out yet, so the usual high school and middle school customers weren't there yet. And that was actually a relief.

"Hi," they were greeted by one of the employees, "What can I get ya?"

Kevin and Eddwarda looked carefully at all the ice choices as Nat quickly said what he wanted.

"A banana split!" He said, "with vanilla, mint chip, and chocolate ice cream. I'd like chocolate syrup, some nuts sprinkled on top, whip cream, and then some more nuts sprinkled on top of that! Ooh! And some gummy bears, too."

Kevin and Double D stared at him as the employee just laughed.

"Got it!" She said, and then looked at Kevin and Double D, "and you two?"

"I will have two scoops of chocolate chip," Double D told her, "in a cup."

"And I'll take two scoops of chocolate in a sugar cone," Kevin said.

"That's all?" Nat asked them, and scoffed, "Weak."

They sat at one of the round tables once they got their ice cream and Kevin almost laughed at the fact that his and Double D's portions were so much smaller than Nat's banana split.

"I hope you don't feel sick after eating that," Double D told Nat, "but if you do, I won't be the one cleaning up that sort of mess." She smiled at Kevin.

Kevin cringed at the thought and shook his head.

Nat placed his hand on top of Eddwarda's and smiled, "Don't worry. I can handle this."

Eddwarda looked down at their hands touching and slowly pulled hers away and concentrated on her cup of ice cream.

"You sure you don't wanna talk about it?" Kevin asked, and when Double D merely said nothing but look up at him, he went on, "you know, about what happened."

No. Not really.

Double D shook her head.

"Aw, come on Double Beautiful," Nat said sweetly, scooting his chair closer to her, "you'll feel better if you do."

Maybe. Or maybe not, considering it wouldn't exactly stop those girls from doing anything they wanted to do. Double D bit softly on her lower lip as she thought about telling them. It wouldn't hurt to say something. That was the whole idea of bringing her here, wasn't it? To get her to talk about it?

"Oh," she laughed, "it was only an accident, a mere hit in the face by a volleyball."

Kevin and Nat's eyes both widened at the same time that Double D tilted her head in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked her, leaning forward, "I mean, did you feel dizzy? _Do you_ feel dizzy? If it made you bleed-"

"Oh, no!" Double D waved her hands, "I'm fine. All pain that was felt is completely gone now." Half true, but it wasn't like her head was throbbing, and her nose wasn't bleeding anymore, so she was fine. And she smiled to make it more believable.

Nat rubbed his chin. "Are you sure?" He asked.

Eddwarda looked at him now and nodded. "Of course I am."

"Because if you're not," Nat moved his chair until he was sitting right next to her, "you can always just tell us." He gently brushed the strands of hair sticking out of her beanie away from her face.

Kevin narrowed his eyes at Nat, but Nat wasn't paying any attention to him. He tried clearing his throat to get the teal-haired teen to look at him, but nothing.

"AHEM," Kevin tried again.

Double D looked at him, but Nat still didn't. And feeling uncomfortable, Double D smiled softly and moved away from Nat. It was a total unexpected move from her, but Kevin was secretly glad she wasn't into it and smiled to himself. Nat pretended as though nothing had happened as he casually looked away and continued eating his banana split.

They sat there in a silence as they ate their treats. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was anything but that. Kevin stared at his ice cream, Double D stared out the window, and Nat was focused on the paintings on the wall behind Kevin, and it was comfortable like that. Only for a bit, though, until Nat couldn't really stand the silence anymore.

"So, what's Eddy problem with me?" Nat asked her.

Double D scooted her chair away from a bit before answering, "Oh, there is no problem." but when both Kevin and Nat raised an eyebrow at her, she smiled and went on, "I'm sure it's not exactly a 'problem' he has with you. It's the way he can be with certain people."

Nat crossed his arms. "What do you mean by _certain_?"

"Nothing offensive, that's for sure," she assured him.

"But what-"

"Eddy just doesn't like you, man," Kevin told him, "Get over it."

Nat frowned, but sighed. "Okay, whatever. It's not like I cared." He rolled his eyes. "I was just curious."

"Of course." Double D nodded.

Kevin laughed at that and Double D couldn't help but laugh as well, though she felt a tingle in her stomach and slowly looked away from the redhead. She and Kevin finished their treats way before Nat even could.

"Come on," Kevin said, "you're almost done." He smirked at the half eaten banana split in front of Nat.

Nat covered his mouth as he burped. "I can't," he said, pushing the bowl away and shielding his eyes, "No more please."

"A little more," Double D said, putting the bowl back in front of him.

"No, no," Nat shook his head.

"Nathan, you're almost done," she told him, "why stop there?"

Nat stuck out his tongue in disgust as he took a sneak peek at the ice cream, "I'll die if I try."

Kevin squinted his eyes as he leaned forward and said, "Weak."

And Nat gasped, putting his hands down and widening his eyes.

"You know what," he said, grabbing his spoon again, "fine. I'll finish it."

Now Kevin was the one shielding his face, "Okay," he laughed, "but I don't wanna see."

Eddwarda pursed her lips as she watched Nat struggle with finishing his banana split.

"Now next time you'll think about how much you can handle before getting so much," she told him.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled as he continued to force the ice cream down.

Eddwarda giggled as Nat continued to force the ice cream down, and Nat playfully glared at her in response.

"Are you sure you don't want a little taste?" Nat asked, winking at her. A faint blush dusted her cheeks as she shook her head no.

"I've had enough ice cream for today, thank you!"

"You can never have too much ice cream," said Kevin, "Except, maybe Nat's had enough. Nat's had enough to feed a small country." Kevin started laughing as Nat flipped him off. "Only if that small country is inhabited by you. I bet you're still hungry. "

"Well, yeah, cuz I'm not weak."

Double D opened her mouth, about to say something, when her phone suddenly rang. Both boys looked at her as she huffed and took her phone out of her bag. Who could be calling her at this hour…?

"Who's calling you?" Kevin asked.

She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Eddy... Oh, Eddy! She completely lost track of time. She was supposed to be at Eddy's house twenty minutes ago.

"Hello?" She answered the phone and braced herself, expecting Eddy to yell at her for being late.

"Where the heck are you, Sockhead?!" Yep. He yelled into the phone so loud that Nat and Kevin could hear it. They looked at each other and muttered "Eddy".

Cringing, Double D took a deep breath before she explained where she was. He's gonna be mad…

"I'm with…" She grimaced, "I'm with Kevin and Nathan. " She sighed. "I apologize for making you wait, Eddy."

Nat and Kevin both had frowns on their faces, but Double D waved at them, insisting everything was all right. "It's my fault," she whispered to them.

"If Nathan would be so kind as to drive me home…" she said to Eddy, "then I should be at your house in ten minutes. I apologize again, Eddy." She listened to him for a couple more seconds before frowning and mumbling, "he's not that kind of boy, Eddy. See you soon. "

She hung up the phone and sheepishly looked up at Nat. "Would you mind—"

He held up his hand to stop her from talking. "Of course I'll take you home. You don't think I'd let a cutie like you walk home all by yourself, do you?" He winked at her, and Double D rolled her eyes in response. Before she had the chance to get up, Nat got up and offered his hand. "Whatever boy Eddy thinks I am, I am the complete opposite!"

"Dude, you're laying it on a little thick there," Kevin said, earning him a glare from Nat.

"Come on, Double Darling, let's hurry up and get in the car and leave Shovelchin here."

"Yo, what the fuck?!"

That made Double D giggle and take his hand. While Nat raced out of there, she grabbed Kevin's hand and pulled him along.

The trio got into Nat's car and started to pile in. Once they were all buckled in, Nat started pulling out of the parking lot and onto the street.

"So, what are you and Eddy and Ed doing today that's so important?"

"Oh, Ed wont be joining us today. It's only Eddy and I."

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "So what are you doing without Ed? Are you tutoring him or something?"

Double D pursed her lips. She didn't want to tell Kevin the truth in case that ruined her chances. She had to tell them a half truth that they hopefully wouldn't question or ask her to elaborate on. "Oh, not exactly. We're sort of…tutoring each other, if you will."

Nat laughed. "What in the hell does Eddy of all people have to teach you? How to dress like you're in an 80s teen movie? How to be smug and arrogant?" Both Nat and Kevin started laughing. "How to talk at a 150 decibel level?" Kevin added and it made the boys laugh harder.

Double D wasn't happy with her two friends were making fun of her bff. "I'll have you know that Eddy is _very_ intelligent, thank you! He just has trouble applying himself." She huffed and looked out the window. "Honestly. I cant believe you two."

"Aww, come onnn, dara….come onnnn," Kevin nudged her. "Doesn't Eddy make fun of _us _all the time?"

"Absolutely not!" Well, okay, that was a bold faced lie, but she was irritated!

Both Kevin and Nat rolled their eyes. "Oh come on!" Kevin cried. "He totally does. I bet he says things like… Okay if he was doing the same thing we were doing he would be all like, "haha what does Nat have to teach you, how to mentally undress everyone?" Both Kevin and Nat started laughing.

"Or Eddy would be all like, what does Kevin have to teach you, how to have a perfectly square head?" Both boys laughed and Double D had to admit that it was funny. Kevin did have a pretty square head. She raised her hand up to her mouth and giggled. Luckily, they forgot what they were talking about, so they didn't press her for answers.

A few minutes later, they were at the cul-de-sac.

"Thank you so much for everything that you two have done today!" Double D said as Nat pulled up to Eddy's house.

"It's no biggie, we'll catch you on the flippety flip!" Waved Nat as Double D shut his car door.

Kevin got out as well, waving goodbye to Double D before heading towards his own home next door. Double D sighed as she walked up to the front door of Eddy's house.

Eddy quickly ran up to his mirror the moment he heard the doorbell ring. He checked over his hair, making sure he had enough gel in. He then proceeded to sniffing himself.

"Hmm," he said, his eyes squinting as he looked at his cologne bottle, "guess a little more wouldn't hurt." A few sprays and he was out the bedroom door to answer Eddwarda who was now tapping her foot.

She was already late and now Eddy was taking so long to answer the door. She looked over at Kevin's house. The redhead was already out of sight, and she frowned.

"Hey Sockhead."

Eddwarda turned back to see and _smell_ Eddy standing in the doorway, and she already knew what had taken him so long to get to him. But she smiled and stepped in when he moved aside. They headed to his bedroom, and she set her things down by the door, though she almost didn't know why she bothered, considering the mess Eddy had on the floor in the corner. But his bed was partially neat and Eddwarda knew that had to do with her last complaint.

"It's about time you're here," Eddy said, getting himself comfortable on his bed.

Well, could he blame her? It wasn't like her arrangements with Eddy were something she always looked forward to. Sure they have helped her better understand certain things, but other than that, they were nothing – a mere lesson that was benefiting both of them. And knowing that, she sat next to Eddy on the bed and smiled softly.

She figured he was going to ask her again about what the heck she was even doing with Nat and Kevin, but to her surprise, he didn't. It was as if he either forgotten, or it was in the past now and he just didn't care. Yet, that didn't seem like Eddy. He wasn't one to just forget, but then again, Eddy also took these "lessons" seriously.

"Ready?" He asked her.

Eddwarda nodded as they both scooted closer to each other.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she commented before Eddy pressed his lips against hers.

The first time they had done this, it was when they were both mentioning the fact that they barely even knew how to kiss. They were both in Eddy's living room while Ed went to go grab them something to drink, and Eddy spoke up, "I think I... I think I suck at... kissing."

It was an odd thing to bring up at the moment, especially when nothing they were doing or watching was relatively close to that kind of subject. Double D sat up a bit more and raised her eyebrow at him.

"Why do you say that?" She asked.

"My big bro always talked about being this expert kisser," and he cringed at the thought, "do people just naturally know what to do?! It always looks like they do even when they apparently don't!"

Double D thought about it, and it did seem that way to her, too. Yet, she never really thought about whether she was good at kissing or not. What if she sucked, too? What if she failed so miserably at it that if by some chance, Kevin just kissed her out of nowhere and she wouldn't know what to do?! What would she do then? Something that would embarrass her, probably. And she wouldn't be able to handle that.

"Oh, dear," she said, her eyes widening, "I might suck, too, or rather, I'm not sure. At all."

And their arrangements had started the day after when Eddy mentioned trying to practice kissing with his pillow. Double D had told him how ridiculous that was, and he told her he had nothing else to practice with. That's when it hit them both. They were best friends. They were comfortable with each other. They had been such intimate things together, including with Ed. There was practically no privacy between them. So there would be nothing wrong with helping each other out in the kissing department.

It had helped, too. The more they practiced, the more confident they both felt about it in general. Eddy had even mentioned scoring some kiss with some girl at a football game, but Double D and Ed were still unsure about that being one hundred percent true. They didn't question it, though.

Each time they had an arrangement, Double D felt improvements in Eddy, and vise-versa. It didn't feel strange, though they promised to never speak a word to it to anyone – ever.

Double D slowly pulled away and smiled at Eddy.

Eddy furrowed his eyebrows, "We're done already?"

"Oh, no," Double D said, shaking her head, "I only want to make things clear."

Eddy groaned. "What?"

"You do still understand that this is nothing more than us experimenting with each other for the benefit of both of us?"

Eddy paused a moment, thinking about her question, because really, what kind of question was that?

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Eddy said, rolling his eyes. "I get it. We made this clear a long time ago. Jeez, Double D. Relax."

Double D crossed her arms. "I am relaxed. I am only making sure you are, too."

"I am!"

"Well, then..." Double D cupped Eddy's face and kissed him again.


	3. Chapter Three

The next day, Eddwarda was, rather impatiently, waiting outside for Eddy and Ed to pick her up for school in Eddy's car. She had her own car and was perfectly capable of driving herself, but Ed complained about how the trio "never spent any time together anymore" due to Double D's heavy school schedule and her extracurricular activities, and Eddy's part-time job. So they all decided to carpool together a few times a week to spend a bit more time with each other in the mornings. She didn't object to this arrangement, but she did object to possibly being late for school. What on Earth were these boys doing? What could possibly be taking them so long?

From across the street, she saw Kevin leave his house in Nat's car. Why does Nat drive Kevin to school? Surely it's inefficient, due to Nat living away from the cul-de-sac… it would be faster for the both of them to drive to school separately, and Kevin has his own mode of transportation…  
"Hey Double Dashing!" Nat cried from the driver's window. What kind of nickname was that…? "Need a ride?" she heard Kevin a little closer, as he was in the passengers side of the car.

"Oh! N-no thank you gentlemen, I will not require transport to school this morning, thank you. I am simply waiting for Eddy and Ed to pick me up. Wherever those two may be…" she trailed off as she looked in the direction of Eddy's house, unable to see his car in the driveway, but that might be because it was still in the garage. Good lord… she looked at Kevin again. "T-thank you for your gracious offer, though."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Alright, well, if you ever need us to take you to school, just holler at me." Kevin winked.

"A-ah…yes of course…" Eddwarda replied, a faint blush starting to appear on her cheeks.

"HEY!" They heard a voice yell, followed by an obnoxious car horn. "GET OUT OF THE STREET! I HAVE TO PICK UP DOUBLE D!", followed by another car horn. Yeah, it could only be Eddy. Nat poked his head out the window, flipped Eddy off, and drove off in the direction of the high school. Embarrassed at her friend's actions, Eddwarda hurriedly got into the back seat of the car. "About time you—"

"Eddy!" Double D cried. "Please try control yourself! Nat and Kevin were just offering me a ride to school because _you_ were going to make me late! Oh…" She tried to hide her blushing face by pulling her beanie down. "how embarrassing…"

"Come on, Sockhead! It's not that big of a deal…right, Ed?" Eddy looked over his shoulder to his other friend for support, but Ed huffed at him and put an arm around Double D. "Come on! Is Nat your boyfriend or something? What's the matter with you?!"

"He is _not_ my boyfriend! A-and neither is Kevin, for that matter! A-and why are my relationship with either of them relevant when we are talking about _your_ temper?!" Eddwarda glared at him and re-hid her face into her beanie.

"Control yourself, Eddy. Tsk tsk tsk." was all that he got from Ed. Frustrated, and blushing a bit himself, Eddy muttered a "whatever" and headed to school.

* * *

Evidently, Eddwarda was still mad as she only muttered a "have a nice day" to Eddy as she scurried up the steps into the building after she got out of the car. Once inside, she maintained a brisk walk to her locker, desperately trying to avoid Eddy and any bullies she might encounter. Thankfully, she got her AP Chemistry book out of her locker and headed to her first period with no problems.

"At least I'll see Kevin in this class…" she mused as a warm feeling engulfed her. _Kevin_. Yeah, that made all her worries melt away. Kevin and Double D were lab partners in AP Chemistry, and she always looked forward to that class. Today they were doing a lab, so she knew they were going to work together. She walked down the hallway until she found her classroom, and she slipped inside.

She wasn't the first one in the classroom, thanks to Eddy making her late, but she was one of the first ones in the room. One student was sleeping, and two others were writing in a notebook. Eddwarda sat down in her assigned lab station and got her textbook out, aiming to read over the lab they were going to do today. She patiently waited for Kevin, but she knew he wouldn't be in class until the bell rang. Sighing, she looked at the clock, and then went back to her textbook.

About seven minutes later, the bell rang and as if right on cue, Kevin entered the classroom with a couple of his friends. He split up with them and took his seat next to Double D.

"Hey, come here often?" Kevin winked at her, and Double D giggled but also rolled her eyes. "Kevin, you're horrible!" she said, but quickly regained her composure when the teacher started talking.

"Alright, class, as you should remember, we are doing a lab today."

Double D smiled as she turned to look at their teacher. They were to be making a slime substance to study how an unusual polymer works. It didn't seem to interesting, but it also didn't seem too difficult, and Double D didn't mind an easy day every now and then.

As their teacher was explaining the lab further, Kevin slowly scooted closer to Eddwarda, casually too so she would not notice. He nudged her softly and sat up straight when she looked over at him. Was he really being a bit childish? No. It was cute, Double D would admit, and she smiled a bit more. She pursed her lips as she quickly nudged him back and looked out the window as if nothing had happened. Kevin grinned and shook his head.

"And now I'll leave you all to be," the teacher said and Kevin looked at Double D.

"Oh, don't worry," she said, "I know what to do."

"And I don't?" Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Double D tried hiding her smile, but with the look Kevin was giving her, she almost couldn't. It was the same look she was used to seeing on him and it took her back to when they were kids.

"Oh, no. That's not what I meant," she said, shaking her head. "When you turned to me, it seemed as though you were lost. I was wrong. My apologies."

"Maybe I just looked at you because I like looking at you," Kevin smirked, and Double D had to bite down on her lower lip because the smile that was about to reveal itself was much too large (and obvious).

Was it even possible for her to not smile around Kevin? It was ridiculous and she despised it, but she also couldn't help herself. Who could around someone they adored so much?

"Okay, so we start with..." Kevin mumbled as he checked his notes.

Double D picked up a beaker already pre-filled with 100 milliliters and held it close to him.

"Oh, we need-" when Kevin turned, he was faced with the exact beaker he was just about to grab to fill up. "That..." he pointed at it, and Double D nodded.

"Here you go," she said, and Kevin took it from her.

"Always ready, aren't ya..." Kevin squinted his eyes, "_Double Dashing_," he held back his laugh.

Double D had to think about it a moment before remembering earlier in the morning with Nat. She sighed and crossed her arms, "Oh quiet you."

And Kevin laughed as he grabbed the container containing the guar gum.

"I'm just messing with you," he said and Eddwarda watched as he carefully poured around .7 grams of the guar gum into the water.

"Now we heat it up," Eddwarda said and Kevin sighed.

"Great," he mumbled.

Everyone began to be invested in what they were doing, including Double D and Kevin, and they paid no attention to anyone else. The girl sat in front of them at the next lab station turned around and smiled when she noticed how distracted the two were. She got up from her seat to "stretch" and purposely swung her arm around. It knocked over one of the test tubes placed near Double D. The liquid spilled over, immediately touching Double D's hand, and she gasped at the feel.

"Oh, no!" The girl shouted, "Eddwarda's contaminated!"

The other students gasped and stepped away, even those are already far enough away. Kevin stayed still, though, and glared at the girl, because there was no way that was an accident.

"Hey, you did tha-" but he was interrupted by the girl grabbing Double D's other wrist and dragging her over to the chemical shower in the far corner of the classroom.

Kevin's eyes widened and he quickly followed.

"Hurry!" The girl shouted, yanking Double D's sweater over her head. "Before it's too late!"

"But it was only-" Double D didn't get a chance to say a thing as she was pushed into the shower and felt the ice cold water cascade her seconds later.

She held her breath at the awful and uncomfortable feel of water so cold touching her warm skin. The teacher was now in front of the shower, turning off the water and helping Double D out. Kevin wrapped a towel around her as the other classmates gathered around.

"Is she clean?" The girl asked and Kevin narrowed his eyes at her.

"She's fine, no thanks to you," he sternly told her.

Double D was shivering, teeth chattering, and she looked down to find her clothes soaked wet, except for her sweater that the girl still held in her hands.

The girl noticed and let it fall onto the floor. "Oh, did I overreact?" She asked.

Double D furrowed her eyebrows at the girl. Really, she wasn't surprised at the nonsense display that girl had just pulled.

"Okay, she's fine," their teacher said to the other students, "go back to your lab stations and finish your experiments."

Most of them whined, but they all headed back, including the girl, who smiled at Double D before turning on her heel and walking off. Kevin was still holding the towel on Double D, and though she liked having Kevin so close to her, she grabbed the towel to hold in place.

"I'm fine, Kevin," she said softly.

"Why would she do that to you?" Kevin asked as their teacher walked off to make a call. "I know it wasn't an accident. Something like that couldn't be an accident when she wasn't even that close to us."

Double D's teeth were still chattering a bit, but she tried not making it too obvious. Kevin was staring at her, waiting for an answer, but she didn't know what to say. She could start with the truth, just tell Kevin everything – well, perhaps not _everything,_ but the basics. He would understand.

"Oh, she and her friends..." Double D began to say, "they have a problem with me, and if you ask me why, I have no idea."

"Eddwarda," their teacher said as he returned to them, "you may leave class to change into something dry. I'm so sorry. You are excused from this period for today."

Double D opened her mouth to protest, but there wasn't much to protest. A part of her really didn't want to be in that class anymore anyway. She nodded and turned to face Kevin again. Kevin had a frown plastered onto his face and his arms crossed, as if he was deep in concentration. It was then that Double D noticed Kevin was glaring at someone. She turned to see that he was glaring at the girl.

"It's fine," she said, looking at the redhead, "I'm fine, as I said."

Kevin inhaled sharply and faced Double D. "Those girls will regret messing with you if they continue it."

"Don't talk like that," Double D scolded him. "I'm sure they are..." she sighed. She couldn't even pretend to defend those girls. "Well, they are human."

"Yeah, barely," Kevin said, rolling his eyes as he looked over at the girl again. What was even her name? He never cared to learn hers or her malevolent friends.

Double D went ahead and left the class, asking Kevin if he could bring her things to her afterwards. He agreed and was forced to join another group because their teacher didn't want any of them doing the lab alone.

_Oh, those girls, _Double D thought to herself as she walked her way towards her locker, _Do they really have nothing better to do than to bother __**me**__? _She stopped walking and sighed as she looked down at her feet. _I'm sure if I weren't the way I was, they wouldn't be so cruel._

She continued walking again and stopped in front of her locker. She never figured she would actually have to use the spare clothes she had in there, but she was glad she was efficient enough to bring extra. Looking down at her soaked tank top and skirt, and that's when she gasped because she was only in a tank top – a soaked one to be exact, and she thanked the heavens it wasn't a white one or a see-through one. But even then, the fact that she had been soaking wet in front of Kevin in merely a tank top and her skirt! Heat rose to her cheeks, but she shook her head and quickly grabbed her spare sweater and skirt before heading over to the girls' restroom.

She changed into her dry clothes and folded up the others. The restroom was empty, and she was glad. She didn't want to risk running into anyone. Her beanie was also wet, and she took it off to squeeze out the water as best as she could before placing it back on.

Double D grabbed the edges of the sink as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her frown increased.

_If I were prettier,_ she thought to herself, _they wouldn't be so mean to me._

She cupped her own face, pulling her cheeks up as she did so. There wasn't much she could do, though. She was the way she was already; the way she felt comfortable, but she was beginning to really despise it.

The bell rung and Eddwarda shrugged as she grabbed her things and headed out. At her locker, she neatly placed her wet clothes inside and grabbed the next textbook she would need before closing it. Standing next to her locker was Kevin and Eddwarda jumped a bit at the sight of him.

Kevin grinned. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Here." He handed over her things, and she smiled as she took them.

"Thank you, Kevin," she said, "I appreciate it."

Kevin smiled softly at her and nodded. They stood there, merely looking around as an awkward silence was daring to envelope them. Double D tapped her foot. This wasn't comfortable.

"Come on," Kevin finally spoke, nodding his head in the other direction, "let me walk you to class."

Double D's eyes widened slightly. "You're walking me to class?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Kevin said, gently grabbing her wrist.

Double D followed, feeling her heart's rate speeding up slowly and her urge to smile a lot to return. There was no way Kevin was going to let Double D walk alone to class after what had happened in Chemistry. He didn't understand what the deal was with those girls. They always seemed mad at every nice girl they saw, but Kevin wasn't going to let them get their hands anywhere near Eddwarda if he was there to stop it.

Double D hugged her stuff and looked down as one of the girls walked passed them. She knew why Kevin was walking her, and it did make her feel weak from thinking that Kevin probably felt the need to protect her. She would have told him walking with her wasn't necessary, but when she turned to face him, he smiled at her and she felt a bit bad telling him to leave.


	4. Chapter Four

Kevin stayed beside her throughout the morning, walking her to and from class, making sure to keep an eye out for anyone who wanted to do harm to Eddwarda. Double D felt bad that she was keeping Kevin from his friends, and she kept protesting that she was "fine, Kevin, I can walk to class on my own" but she was silently grateful every time he counter-protested her protest.

"At least let me protect you for the rest of the day, alright? I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you."

Despite her protesting, she silently swooned every time his grip on her tightened or he craned his neck around every time he heard a giggle or whisper. It was getting harder and harder to keep her composure, and when Kevin turned his head around to check on her, he gave her a wink… and that's when all hope was lost and a small, lovesick sigh erupted from her mouth. Thankfully, it wasn't loud enough to alert Kevin, but she silently reprimanded herself and made sure it didn't happen again. But it was so hard to keep a clear head…

Whatever those girls had against her, they could keep doing it as long as they did it in front of Kevin. Well, she didn't mean that, but goodness…what a wonderful and unexpected side effect.

The time came for third period, and when they entered the classroom together, Kevin sat in Eddy's unoccupied seat, next to Double D. "Man, being in class this early is so lame…" Kevin muttered.

"O-oh, I apologize," Eddwarda started to grow red. He didn't really hate being with her, did he…? "You really don't have to go through all this trouble for me, I am perfectly capable—"

"Yo, I know you're perfectly capable of getting to class yourself and all, but I meant what I said. I don't want anything to happen to you. If something did happen to you—"

"You'd never forgive yourself. I know, I know." she giggled. "Thank you, Kevin. Although this is all unnecessary, I do appreciate it." She smiled at Kevin, and Kevin smiled right back.

"You know, I was wondering—"

"Hey Shovelchin! Get. Out. Of my._ Seat_." Eddy spat, glaring at Kevin. Kevin put his hands up in mock surrender.

"Chillax, amigo. I was just talkin' to Double D. No need to get upset." He got up out of Eddy's seat, squeezed Double D's shoulder reassuringly, and took his regular seat, two seats diagonal from Eddy.

"What's his _deal_?" Eddy scoffed, and turned to Double D, who was glaring at him, arms crossed. "What's _your_ deal?"

Eddwarda gave a sharp exhale. "Nothing's wrong, _Eddy_, but I would appreciate it if you were a bit more respectful in the future. There was no need to be rude to Kevin. " She turned away from him and got her supplies from her messenger bag.

"Oh, hey, can I borrow a pencil? I forgot one." Eddy said sheepishly. Eddwarda gave him a side-eye glance, sighed dramatically, and reached into her bag for a spare.

"You can keep it for the rest of the day, but _please_, at least _attempt_ to keep track of this one."

"You got it, man! I sure owe ya one."

"Hmm, yes, you do." Eddwarda gave a curt reply, and that's when Ed came into the classroom.

"Hey, why was shovelchin even in my seat?" Eddy asked while Ed was sitting down.

"We were just talking, Eddy." Double D replied. Eddy frowned, not entirely believing her story, but he didn't press further.

* * *

After class, Kevin and Nat walked with Eddwarda to gym as usual. She was quite silent at first, merely listening to their conversation about some band, or something about music! And Eddwarda had no idea what song they were making fun of, but she smiled anyway when they laughed. That's when Nat noticed how quiet she was being and turned to her, pointing his finger at her face.

Eddwarda almost had the urge to slap it away from her, but she resisted, because Nat was her friend. If he was anyone else though, someone who wasn't a friend, she wouldn't even hesitate.

"What's up, sweet cheeks?" He asked her with his usual grin. "You've been really quiet. I think I forgot how your voice sounds." He halted in his tracks and dramatically gasped, making Double D and Kevin stop walking as well.

"Oh, no!" Nat said, shaking her head.

Double D place her hand comfortably on his shoulder and rose her eyebrows.

"I think I..." Nat grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit as he said, "I forgot how your voice sounds from how long you've been quiet! Speak now before I never remember!" His grin returned and Kevin rolled his eyes.

Double D didn't hesitate this time. She swatted one of Nat's hands off her shoulder.

"Ow!" He practically squeaked. "What was that for, Double Cutie?"

"Oh, quit with those nicknames, Nathan," Double D said as she crossed her arms, "I had actually thought you had remembered something horrible."

"Aw," Nat placed his hands on his chest, "Were you worried about me?"

"Not even in the slightest." Double D turned away.

Kevin held Nat back and stepped in-between them.

"Come on, you two," Kevin said, putting an arm around Nat's neck, and then the other around Double D's. "Let's just get to the locker rooms and get gym over with."

Double D looked over and sighed.

"Yeah," Nat said with a nod, "Double Darling, let's kiss and make up."

Kevin narrowed his eyes at Nat as Double D scoffed.

"Or we can just make up," Double D said to Nat. "Plain and simple."

"Make out, yeah," Nat winked at her.

"You are being a pig."

Nat sighed and nodded. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I really am. At least I got you to talk."

The corners of Double D's lips rose. "I accept your apology," she told him, and they began walking again.

"Why were you quiet?" Kevin asked her. "They still on your mind?"

"Who?" Nat asked, an eyebrow raised.

"No one," Double D told him, and then she smiled at Kevin, "I'm fine," she said softly.

As they reached the girls' locker room, Kevin and Nat told Eddwarda they'd met her outside after class. She nodded and waved to them. She turned and held her breath as she looked at the door. Those girls were in there...

Well, it was no use avoiding them. That would only give them a sort of satisfaction, and Eddwarda wasn't about to give them any of that.

So with a deep breath, she walked inside.

* * *

Kevin and Nat were waiting for Eddwarda after a surprisingly uneventful gym class. They ran the mile today, and she credited her extra-slow mile time to the lack of bullying. After all, she didn't think anyone would want to expel the extra effort and patience to keep up with her just to antagonize her. Or maybe the girls knew that Kevin was keeping an eye on her? Nonsense… she blushed at the thought. Kevin and Nat were waiting outside the gym to walk to their next class.

"There's my favorite girl!" Nat greeted, bringing her into a tight hug.

Eddwarda's eyes widened, but she sighed softly and patted his back before stepping away.

"Feeling better?" Kevin said in a whisper as he leaned closer to her.

Being so close to Kevin made Double D's cheeks heat up, and she nodded with a small smile.

"Indeed," she told him.

"Why wouldn't she be feeling good?" Nat asked, the baffled expression on his face from earlier, "what's going on?!"

Double D almost laughed at the sound of frustration in his voice, but she resisted. "Oh, no reason, Nathan," she said, "Kevin's only asking because I was so quiet earlier."

Kevin nodded and smiled at Nat.

Nat squinted his eyes at them, "Are you two lying to me?" He stepped closer to the redhead. "Hmm, Kevin?"

"Dude," Kevin shook his head as he backed away, "personal space."

Nat sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of them. They would eventually tell him. He mentally agreed to give Double D her time to open up. But whatever it was, he hoped it wasn't anything terrible. The three of them began heading to Double D's next class and Double D couldn't help but feel protective as the girls walked passed them.

* * *

After fifth period, it was lunch time. Unsurprisingly, Kevin was waiting outside her fifth period class.

"How on earth do you get here so fast?" she asked, amazed at his speed. Kevin just shrugged in response. "I can get out as early as I want. Being a football star has its perks."

Eddwarda gasped. "I sincerely hope you are not missing out on valuable class time on my account!"

"Nah," Kevin grinned at her. "Come on, let's get to the cafeteria before all the good stuff runs out." He nodded in the direction and Eddwarda blinked.

"Oh," she wasn't about to question his actions again, so she smiled brightly and nodded. "Yes, let's go."

Eddwarda couldn't even be bothered to care for the stares she was receiving, or rather, the stares Kevin was receiving. And when she noticed those looks of awe were directed towards the redhead, Eddwarda couldn't help but look around. Oh, so was everyone_ that_ surprised Kevin was hanging around with one of the Eds? It wasn't so unnatural. They all used to hang out as kids – if Ed and Eddy weren't getting on Kevin's nerves, that is. And they all lived in the same cul-de-sac.

It wasn't unnatural at all, but to these kids and their so-called "reputations", it could be. Most of them wouldn't dare be seen with the Eds, or one of them. They found themselves "too cool" just because they were known. Being known couldn't simply mean anyone was cool if they were as dull as dishwater. It only meant people knew their name, and Eddwarda wanted to "congratulate" them on their huge egos, but she wasn't going to give in.

Kevin didn't seem to care at all at their stares.

See, Kevin was one of the few people that were known around the school that was actually cool. He at least knew how to start a conversation or make someone laugh. And he was great a football! What were the other "cool" people good at? Nothing, that's what. And Double D smiled at the thought as she and Kevin continued to walk together. She wondered idly if Kevin would be joining her for lunch or just walking here there until they were separate ways. She hoped he would, but she wouldn't ask or get her hopes up.

Inside the cafeteria, the line was barely getting filled, and the two hurried over to get in line.

"Pizza day," Kevin said, followed by a whispered 'Yes!'

Double D smiled. Pizza did sound good, but she was more in the mood for the chicken salad. Chicken salad with and juice for a drink – that sounded delicious to her.

They got their food and drinks and Double D sighed, knowing this was when Kevin would say he'd see her later. But when those words never came and Kevin was still walking with her towards her usual table, Double D's heart began to beat faster.

Was he actually...

They both sat down and Double D had to bite gently down on her lower lip to not smile. How could she not smile though?

"Did those girls say anything to you in gym?" Kevin asked as he shook his little carton of orange juice.

Double D took the plastic lid off her salad bowl and shook her head. "I think they've had enough."

Kevin smirked. "Good." He grabbed his slice of pizza and shrugged. "'Bout time they shut up."

Double D giggled. They began eating in a peaceful silence and Double D just kept hoping the butterflies in her stomach would subside.

"What are you doing here?" said Eddy, annoyed at the mere presence of Kevin. "Why are you here?"

Kevin looked over at Eddwarda, and opened his mouth to answer Eddy's question, but Eddwarda beat him to it. "I had an altercation with someone in first period, and Kevin was just making sure that I was alright. "

Eddy's eye twitched. "She doesn't need you to protect her!" he yelled at Kevin. "Ed and I can handle it ourselves! And we don't need you sitting at our table! Now scram!"

"Eddy! Don't be rude!" Eddwarda shouted.

Eddy scoffed. "You don't _need _him! I can take it from here, Kevin. You can leave now."

"You?" Kevin laughed.

"Yeah, _me_, I've only been her best friend for like, a gazillion years! Me and Ed can handle whatever comes our way, right lumpy?"

"Well, more Ed than you, right?" Kevin laughed and Eddy flipped him off. Kevin held up his hands. "Alright, alright, you win. Are you alright with this, Dara?" he asked Double D. "You okay with Eddy and Ed?"

Well, no, not really! But what was she supposed to say? "No, Kevin, I want _you_! I want _you_ to follow me around school and protect me instead of my best friend!" That wouldn't be logical at all, and it would completely blow the cover of "secret crush". She inwardly sighed, she knew that her time with Kevin was limited, and it would all be gone by tomorrow. She might as well get used to her Kevin-less days now, right?

"That's quite alright, gentlemen, it looks like the problem has circumvented itself! I'm sure that the girls who were bothering me are all well aware that Kevin is alerted to my well-being, and they wouldn't dare to try anything for the rest of the day. Really, I'm fine, and Kevin, if you wanted to enjoy the rest of your lunch with your friends, I would completely understand."

"Alright, well if you change your mind, holler at me." Kevin ruffled her beanie and got up from the table.

"Finally, that loser is gone!" Eddy said.

That was enough of that. Double D furrowed her eyebrows at Eddy and shook her head before getting up from her seat.

"What are you doing?" Eddy asked her, throwing his hands up.

"What does it look like, Eddy?" She grabbed her tray. "I am leaving." With her head turned up, she turned and made her way out of there. She knew that by the end of the day, things between her and Eddy would get better, but right now, she really didn't want to deal with his sour attitude. It wasn't just because he was being mean to Kevin. It could have been anyone and Double D would have still been annoyed. Sometimes Eddy's attitude was enough to get to her even when it wasn't directed towards her.

"You are not winning today, Eddy!" Ed said.

"Shut up…" Eddy muttered.

"Did you see that, Amber?" one of _the _girls asked.

They were sat at a table not so far from the Eds' table. Amber was the leader, or that's what she liked to think of herself as.

"Kevin has been all around her all day," the girl went on, "they aren't together now. Finally. But what the hell is the deal with that?"

Amber scrunched up her nose. "Let's go make sure she doesn't get to spend anymore time with Kevin." She stood up, and at first, the other girls didn't.

"I haven't finished my lunch yet," one of them protested.

"Hurry up!" Amber shouted, already making her way towards the direction that Double D stormed off in.

The other girls quickly obliged, for the sake of not pissing of their "best friend".

Double D had ended up in the library to finish reading a book she had gotten a few days earlier. It was a really good one, and the library, all peaceful and practically empty, was the perfect place to read it at school. The girls automatically found her, figuring she would be in there.

Double D was sat alone at one of the round tables. She had a small smile on her face as she read a sweet scene between the main character and her love interest. _Oh, I hope these two end up together, _she thought to herself, _they go so well_.

Amber and her friends pulled open the chairs around Double D and sat down, filling up the table. Double D, although deep into what she was reading, couldn't help but notice she had company. She pointed to the word she left off on before looking up.

"Oh, no," she whispered.

"Hi Eddwarda," Amber greeted, her arms crossed, an intimidating smile on her face.

Double D wanted to make herself seem smaller, or just disappear. She could run...

Oh, they couldn't do any harm with the librarians there watching them anyway.

Yet, she still feared for her well being.

"What's with you and Kevin all of a sudden?" Amber asked.

All of a sudden? Double D furrowed her eyebrows. It wasn't 'all of a sudden', that's for sure.

"Kevin is my friend," she said sternly, sitting up more now. "I have no idea what you are implying by asking me that."

"I am implying that you stay the hell away from him," Amber told her. "You are a waste for a girl and Kevin doesn't need to be wasting his time with you." She gave a look of disgust.

Double D didn't want to show how offended she was, but being called a waste for a girl was quite offending. She frowned and looked down at her hands.

She wasn't a waste...

"Are we clear?" Amber asked, in her fake sweet tone. It was so obnoxious and annoying to listen to that Double D wondered how the other girls could stand listening to that voice all the time.

Double D didn't answer Amber's question. She didn't nod or shake her head. She merely glared at Amber until Amber felt satisfied and smiled.

"We'll be going now," she said, standing up, followed by the others, "but you keep in mind what I said." She winked at Double D and headed out of the library, her hips swaying too much for that walk to be real.

Double D huffed and crossed her arms. Her mood was more destroyed than it was after the little incident with Eddy in the cafeteria. She shook her head and picked up her book.

* * *

After the confrontation with the girls, Double D had found it easy to make up with Eddy after school. It wasn't hard. Eddy was her best friend after all. And things between the Eds went back to normal. Double D hoped a bit she would see more of Kevin the next days, but Eddy always told him he had everything under control and to avoid more conflict, Kevin would nod and leave. He did still manage to walk her to class whenever Eddy had a class on the other side of school. Double D appreciated it, and was just overall happy she got at least _some_ time with Kevin. Eddy couldn't exactly separate them forever. It was a bit irritating that he tried. He wasn't her dad. He didn't need to take care of her. Then again, neither did Kevin...

The girls would see the two walk to class occasionally and would give Double D threatening looks, but the sockhead tried to not seem weak. Inside, she was a bit afraid of what they could do for not obeying them, but she didn't want to care. She would be fine.

On Thursday, the Eds didn't walk home together as always. Well, Ed and Double D walked together, but Eddy had left first – a reason only Double D knew the answer for.

Ed had asked about it, but Double D pretended to have no idea.

"Perhaps he is finally getting some of his homework done," Double D said with a shrug.

Ed laughed. "Eddy and homework. That's a good one, Double D!"

Eddwarda smiled and shook her head. "It wasn't a joke, Ed, but I'm glad you find it humorous." She raised an eyebrow at him, "You've been doing _your_ homework, haven't you?"

Ed blinked and looked away from her.

"Ed," Eddwarda said, in her mom voice as she placed her hands on her hips, "how are your grades doing?"

Ed pouted. "Not good."

Eddwarda sighed. "Would you like any help?"

Ed nodded.

"I'll be glad to help you," Eddwarda told him.

"Really?" Ed grinned and clapped his hands cheerfully.

"Yes, Ed. I will. For the sake of your graduation status! No year is a good year to slack off."

"I'll try harder, I promise!"

Eddwarda stopped as they reached her house. She smiled at Ed and patted his arm, "And I don't doubt it."

Ed waved at her and waited until she was inside before he ran off to his own house. Eddwarda had seen through her living room window. Once Ed was out of sight, her eyes shifted towards Eddy's house. He was waiting for her and she didn't want to keep him waiting longer than he had to.

Eddwarda quickly went upstairs to put her things down and tidy herself up a bit. Deep down, she wasn't quite in the mood for another arrangement, but Eddy was ready already and she wasn't going to break plans. So with a smile, she headed over to his house.

"Welcome to casa de Eddy," Eddy answered when he opened the front door for her.

Eddwarda put her hand down and crossed her arms, "I was just about to knock. Were you watching me?"

"I'm a little psychic," Eddy said, pointing towards his head.

"I'm sure you are," Double D said sarcastically. Eddy furrowed his eyebrows at her but he moved aside and allowed her room to walk in.

"Come on," Eddy said, walking towards his bedroom, "my parents will be here soon."

"We're going to be rushed?" Double D asked as she followed.

"Only this time. Sorry."

They walked inside his bedroom and Double D smiled at its neatness.

"Impressive," she said as she stepped inside. "You really outdone yourself."

"I know you hate when its a mess," Eddy said. He sat down on the edge of his bed and shrugged, "and I guess I'm sorry for being mean to Kevin. I know he's your friend," he said it through clenched teeth that Double D knew it was painful for him to say.

Which only made Double D appreciate it more.

"Oh, it's quite alright," she said, "don't hurt yourself."

Eddy smirked and patted the spot next to him. Double D sighed and walked over and sat down. Eddy turned to her and caressed her cheek.

"We got thirty minutes," Eddy said, and Double D rolled her eyes.

"Then what are you waiting f-" before she could finish, Eddy's lips were on hers. She almost gasped, but she grasped the situation and closed her eyes.

She felt nothing and she wondered if she was messing this up from how inactive she was being. She placed her hands on his shoulders and tried deepening the kiss.

Thirty minutes.

This would be the fastest arrangement ever, and Double D couldn't tell whether she was happy about that or not.

As the minutes ticked by, Eddwarda started to remember why she didn't want to do this in the first place. She was never effected by bullies before, but these girls…these girls were different. Its like they knew exactly what her insecurities were, and they preyed on each one of them. The words "waste" and "unattractive" flew through her mind as each kiss happened. Ugly girls don't get to kiss boys, she thought. Ugly girls don't get to go to homecoming. And ugly girls, especially, never got to be the quarterback's girlfriend.

She knew that it didn't matter if Eddy found her attractive or not for this particular arrangement of theirs. Even so, she was a scholar! Looks won't get you anywhere in life. She should not care what people think of her outside appearance. But alas…

Eddwarda tried to continue for Eddy's sake, but after fifteen minutes of psychological torment, she decided to stop, pushing Eddy off her.  
Eddy didn't get the memo to stop, and he started to dive right in again, but Double D put her hands up.

"What gives?"

"I do apologize, Eddy…but I am feeling a bit under the weather. I should be on my way, lest I infect you with whatever has found its way inside my immune system!" As she got up to leave, Eddy pulled on her wrist. She looked down at him, and a crestfallen expression took over his face.

"It's me, isn't it? You never were a great liar, sockhead."

The look he gave her broke her heart. Of course it wasn't Eddy, Eddy had nothing to do with these particular feelings.

Of inadequacy. But what was she supposed to say? "It's not you, its me"? That cliched and over-blown line from every 90s romantic comedy that convinced no one? She sighed, and decided to tell him a bit of the truth.

"You're correct, in that I'm not exactly sick. But it's not your fault whatsoever!" She sat down beside him, her legs hanging off the bed. He was still unconvinced, and he looked like a sad little puppy. Oh Eddy… Sighing, she decided to tell him a little bit of the reason she was upset. After all, he was her best friend and he had the right to know how she was feeling. "Do you recall when Kevin sat at our lunch table a few days ago?"

"Yeah, that box-headed chump."

"Eddy! Kevin is my friend. I would appreciate if you did not call him names. Anyway…he said he was helping me that day, making sure I was safe from the individuals that I encountered in first hour?"

"Yeah, yeah? Whats your point, sockhead?"

Double D sighed. "Those girls…well, they haven't been making me feel very satisfied with the way I look. And if I'm not confident in myself, I'm afraid I'm not comfortable enough to partake in today's arrangement. If you want to reschedule to a later date, then I would be happy to oblige. Now if you'll excuse me…" She got up to leave when Eddy stopped her a second time.

"Come on, Double D! That's bogus. When have you ever listened to what other people thought of you?!"

She blinked in surprise. "Well…never, I suppose—"

"Exactly! Don't listen to them!" Eddy scoffed. "They're probably just jealous that you get to hang out with such a cool guy like me!"

Despite her feelings, she let out a giggle and she rolled her eyes. "Oh Eddy, you're something else." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked out of his room. She pondered over what Eddy said. Since _when_ did she care what others thought of her? Not once, not ever. Then why were these girls so different?


	5. Chapter Five

The answer to Eddwarda's question was answered the next day. It was supposed to be an ordinary day, one where she'd go through her classes, leave with her best friends and they would spend the rest of their Friday doing whatever they could do in one of their homes. Yeah, the day was starting out as mentally planned. Everything was fine, everything was normal, well, as normal as it can get. That is until she walked into the girls' locker room.

Eddwarda headed to her locker, not really caring to make eye contact with anyone. She just wanted to get this period over with. Kevin and Nat had walked her there as usual, and she really wished she could just be with them rather than getting ready for Gym class. Taking a deep breath, she decided to stop whining about it because she would have to go through the class anyway.

Everything had been going fine...

And then in stepped in Amber with her group of bratty followers.

"I don't think what you're about to do is mean," one of the followers said, "you did warn her."

Amber smiled at her and nodded. "Exactly." She looked toward where Eddwarda stood and called out "Hey, you little nerdy bitch."

All of the girls near Eddwarda turned to look except Eddwarda. Eddwarda heard Amber, but she didn't care nor think it was directed towards her.

"I _said_," Amber practically stomped her way towards Eddwarda, "you little nerdy bitch." She grabbed Double D's shoulder and spun her around.

Double D held her breath to prevent herself from making any fearful noise.

"I was talking to you," Amber said, crossing her arms and looking as if she was offended. Offended over what? Because Double D didn't want to waste her time answering her?

"My apologies," Double D said, and she turned back around to take her gym clothes out of her locker, "I was distracted."

"Don't you _dare_ turn your back on me when I'm talking to you!" Amber shouted as she grabbed Double D's arm and yanked her towards her.

Double D immediately pulled her arm out of Amber's grip and furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you here to bother me with your silly threats?"

"I'm here to tell you that I told you to stay the hell away from Kevin, but guess who I saw walking with him before class?"

"Nathan?" Double D asked with a sly smile.

Amber glared at Double D, and it was the kind of glare that actually did make Double D begin to feel a bit scared. But she never saw the hand coming until it had already made contact with her face. The slap had caught Double D completely off balance that she had to catch herself against the lockers.

"Leave her alone!" A few girls shouted.

Amber's followers were shouting back at those trying to defend Eddwarda, and with them all occupied, it was just Amber against Eddwarda.

"Would you mind stepping out of my personal space?" Eddwarda asked, and though she knew this was only going to further anger Amber, she really couldn't bring herself to care. She was growing so sick and tired of this.

"I don't know," Amber answered, "_Would you_ mind actually listening to _me_ first?"

Eddwarda raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

Amber narrowed her eyes. "Stop acting like you're some tough shit when you're just shit."

Double D merely sighed at that, because she really didn't know how she was supposed to respond to that. She didn't think of herself as someone who had all the courage, but she also knew she wasn't weak. And she was definitely going to stand her ground as best as she could around Amber.

"I'm only going to say this one more time," Amber said, pushing Double D up against the locker when the sockhead tried moving out of the way. "Stay away from Kevin, just stay away from everyone's who's too good for you, because that's what Kevin will ever be."

Double D blinked, her eyebrows twitching together.

"Kevin's only nice to you because he feels sorry for you," one of the followers added.

"Yeah, because do you really think someone like him would like someone like _you_?" Another asked.

Amber smiled at them. "Exactly what they said. It's so sad, because you're so gullible and you really believe he genuinely likes you."

"Aww," the followers said simultaneously in their false sympathy voice.

Double D tried standing up straight, tried fighting back the feeling in her chest, but her eyes were beginning to burn with the tears she was struggling to keep in. Amber and her friends began laughing. Double D's locker mates tried telling them off, but the girls weren't listening.

"Don't worry," Amber said, "one day you'll find a guy who's into you. It just won't be Kevin." She gasped. "Maybe you can try going out with that friend of yours."

Double D bit down on her lower lip. The urge to cry was becoming intense and she just wanted to run off and allow herself to break down, but she couldn't. Not in front of these girls. She wasn't going to give them that kind of satisfaction.

Taking a deep breath, Double D furrowed her eyebrows and stomped forward, "As if I care about anything you have to say, when you only talk for a chance to insult someone." Double D pointed her finger at Amber, "Don't you even have anything better to do? Oh..." she looked down and shook her head before looking Amber in the eyes again, "of course you don't, otherwise you'd be doing that instead of pestering me."

Double D's locker mates covered their mouths to prevent themselves from laughing. Amber's smile was completely gone by now and replaced with a glare. Double D huffed and walked around the girls. They watched her and Double D knew they were, so she turned back to them and without much thought, she raised her middle finger up at them. Amber and her followers crossed their arms, and though Amber looked like she was ready to pounce, she didn't do anything as Double D turned on her heel and stormed out of there.

"Where are you going?" She heard one of her locker mates asked, but Double D simply ignored her as she made her way towards the restroom.

The burning feel in her eyes was increasing again and her hands were a bit shaky. She had no idea how she had worked up the courage to say that to Amber, but she was glad she did. She was glad she said something, but it wasn't good enough. It wasn't enough to make the ache in her chest go away.

"_Do you really think someone like him would like someone like __**you**__?"_ The words came back to her and Double D looked down at her feet. No, she honestly didn't believe Kevin could like her – well, not in the way she liked him. But that didn't mean he was just being nice... did it? No... Kevin was her friend... wasn't he?

Eddwarda sighed sadly as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. Her hands were still shaky, but she needed a favor to ask someone. Scrolling down her contacts list, Eddwarda stopped once she reached 'Jimmy'.

A few tears ran down her face as she took a shaky breath. She selected the name and a blank message appeared on the screen. She hoped she wouldn't be bothering him during class, but she needed an answer as soon as possible.

_I apologize for disturbing you during class, Jimmy, but I require your assistance this afternoon. If you are available to accompany me after school, I would greatly appreciate your help._

She double and triple checked her message, and then pressed 'send'. She took another deep, shaky breath, checked herself in the mirror to make sure it didn't look like she was crying, and exited the restroom.

To her surprise, Nazz was waiting outside the restroom and the girls were nowhere to be seen.

"Nazz? Were you perhaps waiting for me to come out of the restroom?" inquired Double D.

"Yeah, I heard those girls were talking smack about you again, and I wanted to make sure they wouldn't try anything. It's no biggie." Nazz shrugged. Double D smiled and thanked Nazz as they both started to walk towards the locker room.

"Oh, pardon me, Nazz! Feel free to go ahead and go to the gym, for I fear that I will be late today thanks to that altercation, as I still have to finish dressing for gym…"

Nazz held up her hand in protest. "Not gonna risk it, dude. I dont' wanna leave you and then have someone rip on you when I'm not here."  
Double D gave a weak laugh. "You're too kind, Nazz."

After Eddwarda got ready, she took her phone and put it in her locker, hoping to read a reply from Jimmy after gym class. "Oh!" she exclaimed, another thought popped into her mind. "Say, Nazz?"

"Yeah dude?"

"Would you mind, ah, doing me a favor this afternoon?"

* * *

During gym, the girls surprisingly stayed away from her. Probably to give her a chance to stay away from Kevin, she rationalized. Of course, she had no intention of staying away from her friend! Not a chance, those ladies had another thing coming if they expected her to drop her friendship with Kevin! But… well, she admitted that she didn't really feel like seeing Kevin and Nat after gym today. What if they _were_ just pretending to be her friend? What if they _did _feel sorry for her and what if they _were_ just using her for her brain or if their friendship was just some big, elaborate prank? She sighed as she barley kept up with her basketball team, too distracted to really care about the game.

But then she thought about the time that they cleaned her up, and how Kevin protected her from the bullies, and how they offered her rides to school and they took her out to ice cream…surely they are her true, genuine friends! As much as Eddy and Ed were.

But those girls were right about one thing…she doubted that Kevin would ever feel the same way towards her. He was too good for her, the way he looked and the way he acted… they were right. Girls like her never got with guys like Kevin. It just didn't happen. Boys like Kevin got with girls like Nazz, or, Heaven forbid, even girls like Amber. But nerdy girls like her? It wasn't how the world worked.

Her tears started to resurface but she quickly wiped her eyes. She needed to calm down, maybe think about coral reefs or something else to occupy her thoughts.

* * *

After gym class ended, she briskly walked to her locker to check her phone for messages. On her way to her locker, Amber shoved past her and gave her one of those "I'm watching you" gestures, and Double D just rolled her eyes and gave her a "what are you looking at?" gesture right back at her. Honestly, at this point, she didn't know if she was more annoyed or more offended at their actions.

She opened her locker and immediately pulled out her phone. Good heavens, she did receive a reply!

_"I'd be happy to help, silly! What can I do for you? :)))" _The text read.

She gave a sigh of relief and texted Jimmy back the details. After pressing send, she hurriedly changed into her clothes, although she was feeling rather embarrassed about her long skirts and oversized, hand-me-down sweaters. No matter, that will be remedied soon enough.

As she was changing, the internal battle raged on in her head: should she walk with Kevin and Nat today or no? They would definitely notice if she did not walk with them after gym. Well, then that should prove that they were her friends, right? They _would_ notice if she wasn't there!

However, she didn't feel up to walking with them today after what those girls said to her. Although, she countered, those girls are the exact reason for her to walk with Kevin today, to prove that she wasn't scared. On the other hand, maybe she should skip her daily dose of Kevin for the day to throw those girls off…oh, why must adolescence be so complicated? This was not a big deal. Did she want to walk with Kevin today? No, not really. But the boys would be suspicious, and she didn't want to encourage those girls. Good heavens…She decided to walk with Nazz, and if the boys caught up to her, fine; and if they didn't, well, that was fine too. She wasn't going to dwell on it any longer.

After she was done changing, she closed her locker and headed over to where Nazz was. Nazz was just about done and when she noticed Eddwarda standing there, she smiled.

"Oh, hey Double D!" She greeted cheerfully.

"Hello, Nazz," Eddwarda returned the smile. "I was wondering if you'd like to walk with me to class today." She furrowed her eyebrows. She had to add more to it, because it wasn't often that she walked with Nazz, "Oh, so we can work out more of the details for later."

Nazz nodded. "Yeah, that sounds fine. Let me just grab my bag and we'll be out of here."

Eddwarda hoped she would hurry, hopefully so they could be out of there before Kevin and Nat were done. Nazz grabbed her things and the two girls went on their way. Nazz did notice Eddwarda practically walking ahead of her.

"Whoa, slow down there," Nazz said as she laughed and caught up, "why are you in such a hurry?"

Eddwarda merely laughed back a bit, "Oh, no reason." They exited the locker room. Eddwarda could see some of the guys leaving the boys' locker room and when she spotted familiar teal colored hair, she grabbed Nazz's wrist and walked on faster.

"Okay, okay," Nazz said, picking up her pace, "I get it. You don't want to be late to class. But why do I have to hurry?"

Eddwarda looked over her shoulder to see Kevin and Nat staring at the girls' locker room, obviously waiting to see her walking out of it. She felt bad for just walking off like that without telling them anything, but she really just didn't want to deal with them at the moment. She would explain things later... maybe.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent avoiding her bullies, and also avoiding Kevin. She decided that she wasn't comfortable with seeing Kevin today after the girls made such a fuss about it, and she was rather embarrassed on his behalf. If she were Kevin, would she want to be seen with someone like her? She didn't think so. Besides, if her plan worked out, she could spend all the time she wanted to with Kevin.

After school, she said her goodbyes to Eddy and Ed and raced to the parking lot before anyone else could stop her. She told Jimmy to meet her by her vehicle, and she would drive them to their destination.

* * *

"Oh, I'm so happy you asked for my help, Double D!" cried Jimmy as they were driving in her car. "You're such a cutie patootie, I can't wait to dress you up!"

She blushed at the compliment. "T-thank you, Jimmy, its much appreciated. I'm just looking for some new clothes to wear at school is all, as I'm growing tired of Mother and Father choosing my clothing on my behalf… I'm looking for something more…modern, if you will. "

Jimmy nodded. "Right! I'm flattered that I was the one you came to for help! Not to worry, we'll get you out of those ratty things and into this century!" Eddwarda and Jimmy both laughed as she pulled into the shopping mall's parking lot.

"Come on, silly! I know exactly the store for you!" Double D barely had time to get out of the car before Jimmy started pulling on her sleeve.

He didn't stop speed-walking until he reached a bright, almost blinding, anchor store. This particular retail outlet had an all white exterior, and the brand name was illuminated in silver writing. The store had big, open windows that showcased its hip, modern fashions to all who walked past.

"I know exactly what style you'll flourish in, Double D! Follow me!" Jimmy ran into the store, dragging Eddwarda behind him.

She was a bit overwhelmed by the seemingly endless racks of clothing, but there was hardly any time to take it in because as quickly as they entered the store, Jimmy thrust a pile of clothes into her arms.

"Try these on!" cried Jimmy as he nudged her in the direction of the dressing rooms. She was still a little bewildered, but she made it to the dressing room without too many detours.

_'Has Jimmy been secretly planning this makeover…?'_ she thought to herself.

"Pardon me," she asked the dressing room attendant, "But may I please acquire admission into a dressing room?" She hoped she was doing this right, as this whole environment and ritual was unfamiliar to her. Sure, she's been clothes shopping before, but that was ages ago, with her Mother, in a department store. Surely, this was a completely different experience with it's own set of customs.

"Sure! How many?" the attendant replied.

How many? "Um, just one, please. " She was the only one who was going into the dressing room, of course. Was it customary to have more than one person share a dressing room?

The attendant giggled. "Oh, no! I meant how many garments are you going to try on today?"

"Oh!" She cried, embarrassed at the foolish mistake. "Oh, why, um…oh, two, four, six…" she muttered while she was counting. "I have nine articles of clothing." she declared.

The attendant made a face. "You're only supposed to bring five…" She looked at what Eddwarda was wearing. "But… I'll make an exception for you." Double D frowned, but quickly regained her composure. This employee was making an exception for her, which was very kind of her. "I appreciate the gesture."

She followed the attendant to an empty dressing room. Closing the door behind her, she started to undress. She looked at the clothes that were picked out for her…lots of floral patterns, she noted. If she ever got bored while wearing these clothes, she could always look down and categorize the flowers. She also noticed lots of pastel colors and lots of denim.

For the first trial, she chose a black shirt with a floral print and a pair of dark pink overalls. Overalls? She would never claim to be fashion- forward, but she didn't think overalls were very modern, even if they were shorts. But she did trust Jimmy's judgment, so she slipped on the pair.

"I want to see every outfit in action, girl! Come on out and strut your stuff!"

Jimmy! A blush rose to her cheeks. She didn't expect to be modeling these clothes… But Jimmy was helping her so she obliged. It was the least she could do. Sighing, she exited the dressing room to find Jimmy and to also find a mirror.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and both Jimmy and the employee gasped.

"Oh, Eddwarda! You Look so much better!"

"I agree, I like this look so much better on you!"

Double D agreed. She didn't think much about clothes before, but she could see why so many people were obsessed with fashion and derived happiness from buying a new wardrobe. These colors and patterns brought out her best features, and she looked…well, she looked so _cool_. However, something was missing. While she adored this outfit…well, she didn't feel like it was quite enough.

"I say, Jimmy, you did an excellent job coordinating these outfits! Let me try on the rest of the clothes and see what I like best…"

She tried on outfit after outfit, some mint green jeans with a flowy white tank top, another flowery shirt with some high-waisted denim shorts, a vintage lace dress with a short denim jacket, just to name a few. And while she loved the outfits, and she had to admit that she looked good… outfit after outfit, something was missing. She needed to wow these girls, she needed to prove that she could look like them too, only better. She needed something with lots of pizzazz.

"Oh, Jimmy," she sighed as she tried on the pink overalls and a light gray shirt, "I do adore these clothes, but I…well, they're not quite what I'm looking for, you see…"

"Oh?" said Jimmy. "Did you have a particular style in mind?"

Double D pursed her lips. "Hmm…you could say that." She pondered over her words before she gave up, opting to show Jimmy what she meant instead. Actions speak louder than words, after all. She scanned racks and racks of clothing before settling on one in particular.

"Ah ha!" she cried as her eyes lit up from her discovery. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. Clothes like these are what I'm looking for! Let me go try these on and I'll be right back." She grabbed a few articles of clothing and raced to the dressing room. She was going to show those girls at school that "nerdy bitches" like her could get guys like Kevin, and any guy she could ever want.

* * *

Trying on the first outfit was…surprising, to say the least, as she wasn't used to clothing with as little coverage as this. She looked at herself in the mirror, and she heard Jimmy sigh beside her.

"What do you think?" She asked tentatively. She looked at herself in the mirror, she was wearing a short blank skirt with a matching black floral bandeau.  
"What do _you_ think?" he asked her. "Do you feel comfortable in these?" He gestured to the outfit she was wearing.

Eddwarda hesitated, thinking over her answer. Of course she didn't like these clothes. She wasn't used to these clothes after being so covered up for so long. But she could get used to these, she rationalized. Just to get those girls off her back.

"Of course I do, Jimmy! Why, I can assure you that I wouldn't be wearing these if I felt any otherwise." she exclaimed, maybe trying to convince herself more than Jimmy.

What was she doing? These clothes weren't her. She didn't have the confidence or personality to wear these clothes. Was she really letting the opinion of, _really_, one girl effect her?

This wasn't like her, she thought. While she was indifferent about clothing before today, she longed to go back to the clothing that Jimmy originally picked out for her. She did admit that those clothes highlighted her best features and she really did see a double cutie staring back at her. All she saw now was a fraud.  
Was she actually changing herself because of what someone thought of her? She recalled what Eddy said to her yesterday. Since when did she let opinions affect her thoughts and who she was as a person?

Was she changing? Not really. She was merely…adapting, she rationalized. Yes! Adapting, it was perfectly natural. Just like poisonous fish display their warning coloration to their underwater predators, so was she putting on a facade to deter her very own type of predator.

She smiled at her reflection. If this makeover worked, then those girls would have to leave her alone, and she could prove them wrong.

She tried on outfit after outfit, each one feeling less comfortable than the next. She finally tried on a pair of white, high-waisted shorts and a low-cut red tank top and sighed. This was as good as it was going to get.

She rounded up other short shorts and low cut tops and told Jimmy she was finished shopping.

"Are you sure you don't want to buy anything a little… different?" Jimmy asked while they got in line.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Eddwarda contemplated her response. "I think I'm alright, thank you Jimmy." They were next in line, and the cashier called them up.  
While the cashier was ringing out Eddwarda's new clothes, the employee gave a suspicious glance towards her.

"Are you sure you don't want a gift card?" the employee asked hesitantly.

Double D blinked. "…I beg your pardon?"

The employee resumed his work, flustered. "Y-you know, if you were buying these clothes for someone else…wouldn't it be easier to just buy a gift card?"

…oh. He didn't think he had it in her to wear these clothes. She inhaled a sharp breath as a small fire started to rage inside her, but she exhaled her breath and tried to keep herself calm.

"Thank you for your concern, but it is unwarranted." She responded coolly, yet thoroughly annoyed. "I fully intend to wear these clothes myself."

Nodding in embarrassment, the employee continued to ring up her purchases. "Your total is 122.64."

Eddwarda paled. A hundred and twenty-two dollars? She could afford it, no problem, thanks to her parents' gracious allowance…but that was an abhorrent amount to spend on clothes she didn't particularly care for. Opening her wallet, she realized she only brought $25 with her. She didn't intend to go to the mall today after school, after all. But she had another option…

"What's wrong?" piped Jimmy. "Do you need to put some clothes back?"

Eddwarda shook her head. "Not at all…" she pulled out a credit card from her wallet. "Father said this was only for emergencies…"

"Girl, this _is_ an emergency!" replied Jimmy.

Eddwarda nodded and handed the cashier her card. She was sure her parents weren't going to inquire about the charges, and she had enough means to pay the bill before they caught on.

As she and Jimmy exited the store and entered a new one (this one focusing on jewelry and other accessories), she couldn't help but start to think about her parents.

She loved them dearly even though they weren't around much, and she couldn't help but think that they would be disappointed with her actions.

"My precious little dumpling," she recalled her mother saying to her once, a few years ago after some boys made fun of her. "Never let those boys change you."

She sighed. _The boys didn't change me, mother. The boys never tried._

* * *

Once they got back to the cul-de-sac, Jimmy helped Eddwarda bring her stuff into the house.

"Oh, thank you so much, Jimmy," Eddwarda said as they set the shopping bags on her bed. She turned around to smile at him. "It was much appreciated." She stepped forward, ready to give him a hug, but then hesitated.

Jimmy giggled, knowing exactly what she was trying to attempt. He gently wrapped his arms around her. "You're welcome, Eddwarda," he sighed, "I hope you are happy with the clothes you chose. I'm always here if you do need anymore help."

Eddwarda pulled away from the hug and smiled. "Yes, of course. Thank you again." She walked Jimmy out to the front door and waved to him as he went over to his house. She closed the door and sighed. She had never seen so many shopping bags in her life, in her room! She had never made such purchases before, but she was happy about them. So she smiled when she heard the doorbell rang and she turned around to open the door.

"Hey Double D," Nazz greeted brightly.

Double D stepped aside and allowed her in. She noted Nazz had a small bag with her, which she can only assume was her makeup bag. Double D closed the door and they walked up to her bedroom. Nazz rose an eyebrow at the sight of shopping bags resting on Double D's bed.

"Oh!" Double D immediately ran over and started picking them up. "My apologies for the mess. I'm usually tidy."

Nazz laughed a bit. "Yeah, dude, trust me, I _know_ you are. And that's even considered messy. So you won't shopping. That's cool. I wish I could have my room as clean as yours after I go shopping." She smiled and Double D couldn't help but smile back as she placed the bags in the corner of her room.

"Now, shall we get started?" Double D asked now that she was face-to-face with the blonde again.

Nazz nodded and held up her bag. "Yeah, I have my stuff right here. You said you just wanted to learn the basics?"

"Well, I understand a few of the basics. I do know how to apply on foundation," Double D said with a smile.

"Really?" Nazz rose her eyebrows. "Show me how you apply it."

Double D blinked, not knowing why she had to do that. Did she have to prove to Nazz that she wasn't so anti-makeup and knew nothing about it? It apparently seemed that way. She agreed though and headed over to grab her foundation from her drawer. She turned around so Nazz could see and slowly, Double D dabbed two of her fingers inside the little jar. Nazz watched as Double D began spreading the liquid all over her face with her fingers.

"Okay, stop," Nazz said, walking over and taking the jar from Double D.

"Is something wrong?" Double D asked.

Nazz grabbed a little towelette from her makeup bag and gently wiped the foundation off Double D's face.

"It's not a big deal to put on your foundation with your fingers, but..." Nazz threw the towelette away and dug into her bag again. "I figured out that using an actual foundation brush works best." The blonde showed the black and white brush to Double D.

Double D sighed. She's seen those before, but then again, she's seen many types of brushes before in the makeup aisle that she never stopped to really see the differences between each one. They were all brushes and Double D figured they were all for applying blush. She had no idea that they could be for different uses.

"Here, I'll show you," Nazz said. She picked up Double D's foundation and dabbed the brush a bit into the jar. Nazz turned Double D around so they were facing the mirror. "You start with small strokes from the center of your face," Nazz demonstrated by doing just that. She brushed the foundation from Double D's nose to the side of Double D's face. Double D watched intently, taking in each step Nazz told her until the makeup was blended into her entire face, and under her face as well.

Eddwarda squinted her eyes as she looked at herself closely. She gently touched her own face. "It hardly looks like I have any on at all."

"That's basically the trick to makeup," Nazz explained, "to make it look as natural as possible, but also adding a little color here and there." She smiled as she began to put on a soft colored blush onto Eddwarda's cheeks. "You don't even need makeup, Double D, but I can understand why you want to try it out."

Eddwarda's eyes widened. "W-why?" Surely Nazz didn't know what she was trying to do... right?

Nazz giggled a bit. "To show off more of your face features! Dude, that's definitely why I started. Makeup can either flatter you or falter you, depending on how you use it and making sure you pick the right colors for your skin tone."

Eddwarda tilted her to the side. She never realized there was so much to makeup.

"Do you want to try out eyeliner, too?" Nazz asked, "I know you sometimes wear mascara, so you get the gist of that."

Eddwarda smiled shyly at the ground. She felt almost foolish for not knowing as much as Nazz did. At her age, she should know more than she did, but she didn't. It was mostly because she just never cared before, but now she wished she had cared. It would have saved Nazz the trouble of teaching her.

"I have liquid and pencil eyeliner?" Nazz told her.

Eddwarda furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

Nazz smiled at her and said, "I like liquid liner. It's pretty easy to use if you have a steady hand."

Eddwarda looked down at her hand. She supposed it was. She never had much problem with it being too shaky when working an important invention or project.

"But you do have to be careful with it," Nazz said, "because you can easily mess up. You also have to know whether you want a thin or thick line."

"How do you know which looks best on yourself?" Eddwarda asked her.

Nazz rubbed her chin as she looked over Eddwarda's face. "I'd have to say you'd look nice with a thin line, but later on, when you get the hang of it, you can try a thicker line. Sound good?"

Eddwarda nodded. Nazz started with applying the eyeliner on herself first as Eddwarda watched. The blonde was slow about it, starting from the inner corner of her top lid, close to her lash line, and moving the brush over to the outer corner. Eddwarda was practically gaping in amazement at the smooth line it created. That was too easy, though. She could do that, no problem.

"I have a spare liner," Nazz said, taking out the similar tube from her bag, "I just bought it yesterday, but you can have it." She handed it to Eddwarda.

"Oh, no..." Eddwarda shook her head. "I wouldn't want to take it from you."

Nazz sighed. "Come on, Double D. It's no big deal. Really. Take it." She put in Eddwarda's hand and Eddwarda frowned.

"I will get you another one," she promised and Nazz shook her head.

"Just try what I did," Nazz told her.

Eddwarda nodded and opened the eyeliner. She looked at the little brush that came out. It was so thin and delicate. How could anyone mess up on applying eyeliner? Eddwarda smiled as she attempted the same movements as Nazz.

"No, wait! Slowly!" Nazz shouted as she noticed Eddwarda quickly moving the brush. In doing so, Eddwarda had completely gone too far from her lash line and the eyeliner was a crooked line on her lid.

Nazz covered her mouth, struggling to hold in her laugh.

Eddwarda huffed and crossed her arms. "Well I'm glad you are finding this funny."

Nazz shook her head. "Oh, no, Double D. I'm not laughing at you. You just..." she laughed a bit, "you remind me of me when I started using makeup. I could never get done the eyeliner part. It sucked for the first month, and it even sucked for a few months after. It takes a lot of practice, _and_ patience. Don't get discouraged. Just wipe it off and you can try again." Nazz handed her another towelette.

Eddwarda sighed and took it. "You made it look so simple."

"It gets simple," Nazz said, "after a while. You'll get the hang of it. We all do."

Eddwarda nodded. She definitely would get the hang of it. She _had_ to. She really did want to wear makeup – to flatter her face features and bring out more of her color like all the other girls did. She didn't just want to look pretty in her new clothes, she wanted to _feel_ pretty, too. She wanted to feel and look confident about the way she looked. So as the lessons continued, Eddwarda listened and watched carefully before trying it on herself. She still kept making mistakes, but as she continued trying, the mistakes became smaller.

"There you go," Nazz told her with a pat on the back. "You're a fast learner."

Eddwarda smiled once she was done applying everything on. She turned around and clasped her hands together.

"Oh, thank you, Nazz," she said, "you have no idea how much of a help you were. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Nazz nodded and returned the smile. "You're welcome, Double D. And you look amazing."

"I do?" Double D turned back around to look herself in the mirror. She was impressed with how subtle the makeup actually looked on her. It just made her skin appear fresher and clean, and that definitely did make her feel confident. The corners of her lips rose up more until she was grinning softly.

She was ready, and she couldn't wait to show those girls that she could make an impression just as much as they could.


	6. Chapter Six

Eddwarda woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. She reached for her cell phone to turn off her alarm, and she noticed that she had a few unread text messages. She scrolled through her messages, and noticed a few were from Kevin! Kevin… she opened up their conversation to read the unread messages.

_Are u avoiding me or s/t?_

Guilt immediately started to weigh on her as she remembered that yes, she did avoid him the previous day. She could only imagine how hurt Kevin must have felt. She must have been too caught up in the hustle and bustle of yesterday's events to notice that Kevin texted her.

_missed u today \3_

Her breath caught in her throat when she read his second message. A broken heart…? Surely that was a good sign, as it seemed like he was, quite figuratively, broken-hearted that he didn't see her much yesterday. Oh, Kevin… a lovesick sigh escaped her mouth as a grin erupted on her face. Maybe her crush wasn't as impossible as she anticipated.

_just saw nazz come out of ur house. I think I understand yo. is it a chick thing?_

She rolled her eyes at his assumption that Nazz's visit and her behavior was menstrual-related. Honestly…

That was the last message that Kevin sent her, and she needed to think over her response carefully before she sent a reply. She decided to read the rest of the text messages.

Nat sent her a message yesterday as well, around the time that she was supposed to exit the gymnasium and walk with them to class.  
_Where my double cutie at?_

She rolled her eyes at the nickname. She did, however, also felt bad that she abandoned their usual scheduled walking time, but she really didn't want to see them at that time. She also saw that she received a snapchat from him, and promptly opened it.

His picture included him making an incredibly over-dramatic sad face, and she could make out a little Kevin in the corner, crossing his arms and huffing. The caption read, "missin u!". She giggled and made sure to screen-shot the picture. Kevin did look rather cute.

She hated taking pictures of herself, but she thought she should at least let Nat know she was alright. She snapped a quick picture of her waving, and captioned it, "I'm alright! My apologies."

Eddy also sent her two text messages, one asking her about her rather quick departure from school yesterday, and the second message was an inquiry about Nazz leaving her house. Honestly, didn't these people have lives?

Once she replied to Eddy's text messages, she decided to get ready for her day of studying. This wasn't normal studying, however. This type of research would be…different.

She really didn't want to wear one of her usual outfits today, and she didn't want to wear her new clothes just yet, so she just put on jeans and one of her old middle school shirts.

Once she finished her morning routine, she headed outside to get into her car and head to her destination. She locked the front door behind her and walked to her car.

"Yo, Dara, wait up!" she heard a voice behind her.  
Kevin?

"Oh! G-greetings, Kevin!" She turned around to face him.

"Hey, Dara. I—we missed you yesterday, you know?" He crossed his arms and, oh goodness he looked exactly like that cute picture that Nat took yesterday…

"M-my apologies! I should have notified you two that I wouldn't be joining you two after class—"

"And you didn't respond to my texts either! But you responded to Nat's? What's up with that, double dork?" Oh, there was that nickname from childhood…although it was in a more playful tone nowadays… but her eyes widened as she realized that yes, she _did_ forget to send him a reply.

"Oh dear! I can't believe that I forgot to respond to you like that! Oh, I feel like I keep disappointing you, please accept my apologies, I can assure you that I had no intention of—"

"You know…" he interrupted, stepping closer to her so she was trapped between him and her car. "If anything's bothering you…you can tell me, you know. Anything at all."

They were in incredibly close proximity to each other, and Eddwarda could feel the heat of his body. Oh goodness…she averted her eyes, blushing at the almost contact. "I…I appreciate that, Kevin. I'll try not to abandon you like that again, please accept my sincerest apologies…"

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "You better. I'll see you later" he knocked on her car and started to walk backwards, waving at her. He was obviously trying to look cool, but he stumbled a bit and then turned around and walked normally.

Eddwarda covered her mouth with her hand as a giggle escaped. Oh, Kevin…

Shortly after she left her house, she pulled up into the parking lot of the nearest convenience store. She took a deep breath and put on her hooded jacket and sunglasses, lest anyone recognize her. Say what you will about Ed's B-movies, but they taught her that only a few tweaks to her appearance is all one needs for a quick disguise.

She entered the store with a simple objective: gather all the teenage girl media this store had to offer.

Why the disguise? Even though she was planning on altering her looks for school…well, she still intended to keep her wits, and she would be mortified if someone knew that she was buying trashy girly magazines like the ones she now had in her hand.

_This is all in the name of research, Eddwarda. To know thine enemy is to defeat thine enemy_. And she was going to prove those girls wrong at all costs.  
Stuffing the magazines under her arm, she headed to the makeup section. All she needed was some lip gloss…and maybe eyeshadow? No, she doesn't need to over complicate things. She grabbed a tube of cherry lip gloss that was on sale and headed towards checkout.

She hoped no one recognized her, as this happened to be the store that Sarah worked at part-time. Oh, she should have asked Ed if she was working today! Well, no matter, she would just try to keep a low profile, and hope that her disguise worked.

As she got in line, she realized that Sarah _was_ working today, and she was on one of the two open registers. Curse my luck… she thought to herself. Her disguise just had to work…

"Hey, buddy, I told you that I didn't charge you for your stinkin' candy bar! You better not run off with it!"

"Can I speak to your manager, young lady?"

Oh thank goodness, it seems that Sarah is otherwise occupied with another customer. She let out a breath when the other cashier called her up.

"Did you find everything alright today?" the young woman asked.

"Quite well, thank you." she looked up at the cashier. She recognized the girl's face from school… but she couldn't place her face. No matter.

"Do you have a rewards card with us?" That voice seemed familiar…oh. _Oh._ It was one of Amber's friends! She gasped, and quickly covered her mouth. The cashier noticed and asked if everything was alright, and Eddwarda simply shook her head.

It seems the disguise worked, as the girl was none the wiser! "Um…do you have a rewards card with us?" the cashier asked again, and Eddwarda simply shook her head and the cashier shrugged.

"$10.71 will be your total today, miss."

Eddwarda hurriedly pulled out a $20 from her wallet and thrust it to the cashier. She was eager to get out of there and go back home. Moments later, she received her change and her bag. She muttered a rushed "thank you" and bolted out of the store and into the safe haven of her car.

She took a deep breath once she was inside. "That was close…" she murmured. She started to drive home.

Once in the comfort of her own bedroom, she decided to commence her research. She pulled out the magazines from her bag and spread them across her bed. Titles such as "How to Win Your Guy!" and "10 Tips That Will Drive Him Wild!" popped out at her. She reluctantly pulled a magazine and started her research.  
"Are boys honestly this…stupid?" she wondered aloud after she read a few pages. She grumbled as she read page after page, trying to imitate how the girls in the magazines posed and shaped their lips.

She was already growing tired of reading these magazines (although she was interested in the make-up tips that they offered, and she made sure to bookmark those for later), but she was determined to show those girls what she was made of.

* * *

And Monday was the day to show them. Eddwarda looked through her new clothes and sighed before picking some out. She had to admit that she was really nervous about this. It was a huge step forward (or backward? Well, she liked to think it was forward). As she got dressed, she thought about chickening out and getting into her regular clothes, but she couldn't. She spent so much money on these clothes, and she was going to make use of them. She didn't want any of her friends seeing her until she was actually at school, though. Therefore, she waited until Kevin was in Nat's car and they drove off. Then she waited for Ed and Eddy to leave as well (she made sure to let Eddy know that she was driving herself to school).

After the coast seemed clear, Eddwarda made her way quickly to her car. Once inside, she checked herself in the mirror. She tried her best to do her makeup as Nazz had taught her, and she smiled, seeing that she didn't do as bad on it. Feeling a bit more confident now, despite her fast beating heart, Eddwarda turned on her car and drove off in the direction of the school.

She didn't have to be this nervous, but she was. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and smiled. Everything would be fine. And then she pulled into the school's parking lot.

Kevin and Nat were still outside, standing around the staircase, having a conversation with some of their teammates.

Oh no...

Eventually they were going to see her in her new clothes, but she didn't want them to see her first. She was hoping to get to Ed and Eddy and get their reactions over with, then deal with Kevin and Nat's later.

"I'll wait," she told herself, "they'll have to go inside soon enough."

And sure enough, a few minutes later, they were saying their goodbyes, or rather, their "later"s, to the guys and headed up the stairs. Double D took another deep breath.

It was now or never, and of course she wasn't going to stay in her car all day, because there was no way she would miss a day of school over feeling nervous. That wasn't a good excuse. Hesitantly, Double D opened her car door and stepped out. Everyone else in the parking lot didn't pay her any attention since their only focus was to head into the building and look for their friends or get something done.

She tried walking as confidently as she could, hoping she didn't seem out of place. She didn't want to look as though she had no idea why she was wearing what she was wearing. So with her head raised, she walked up the front steps.

Now she was getting the attention of the teammates Kevin and Nat had been talking to.

"Whoa," one of them said, "hey there."

The other football player whistled. Double D wanted to cringe, but instead, she looked over at them and forced a smile on her face. She smiled even though she wanted to run off and be out of sight. A guy she had never spoken to before even held open the front doors for her.

"Oh... why, thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome," he smirked at her.

Double D furrowed her eyebrows and walked inside. So far, so... weird. This was all weird, and different, but she shook her head. It was just going to take some getting used to.

She found Ed and Eddy at Eddy's locker. She could hear Eddy's voice from where she was, and halted in her tracks. He was complaining about Monday mornings and how "exhausted" he was. Double D smiled and shook her head before heading over to them.

"Good morning, gentlemen," she greeted cheerfully.

Eddy was occupied with stuffing things into his locker to look at her, but he did say, "Yeah, good morning, Sockhead."

Ed was looking at her, though, and seeing her near apparel, his eyes widened. "Double D, you look different."

Double D looked down at her outfit of a red V-Neck, a black skirt, and a pair of black heels that she really hoped wouldn't tire her completely before lunch. She then looked back at Ed. "Nonsense, Ed. I look the same as I always do."

"Yeah, Ed, come on," Eddy said. He slammed his locker shut and looked at his tallest friend, "it's just Double D."

"But her skin..." Ed covered his mouth with his hands.

"Her skin? What are you-" Eddy turned around and saw exactly what Ed was talking about. His eyebrows rose and both of them merely stood there, staring at Double D in shock.

Double D crossed her arms. "What is it, you two? It is impolite to stare."

"I'm sorry," Ed said as he looked away.

Eddy grinned lopsidedly before he looked away as well.

"That doesn't mean you can't look at me while we speak," Double D said.

They both turned to face her again – Eddy with the grin still on his face and Ed seeming conflicted. After a moment though, Eddy shook his head and scoffed.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You look... your clothes. Where's Double D?!"

"She's right here," Eddwarda stepped forward, placing her hands on her hips.

Eddy raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious. What happened to you?"

Eddwarda tapped her foot, but eventually, she sighed and said, "I... well, I... I figured it was time for a little change. And I asked Jimmy for help and-"

"You asked Jimmy?" Eddy crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Why him? If you needed some advice on style," Eddy smiled as he popped his collar, "you had the right person to ask beside you your whole life."

Eddwarda rolled her eyes.

Eddy shook his head. "Whatever. You shouldn't be out in public dressed like that! Geez Louise, you're gonna give these suckers the wrong idea. Leave something to the imagination, Sockhead!"

Eddwarda gasped at Eddy's words and Ed stepped back because he knew what the look on Eddwarda's face meant.

"Excuse me, Eddy," Double D started, "I can wear whatever I please and do not need to listen to what you have to say about it."

"I'm just trying to save you from those idiots," Eddy told her. "You know how they can be!"

"It doesn't matter how they can be. I am still myself, and they will understand that."

"Are you sure?"

Double D glared at her friend and nodded. "Positive."

Eddy huffed and furrowed his eyebrows. "Fine."

"I guess we could go eat after school if you want or something," Nat said to Kevin as they made their way down the hallway.

Kevin nodded, though he was half listening.

"But it has to be somewhere good," Nat added, "somewhere that doesn't make me sick after eating it."

Kevin idly looked over to see the Eds together, but he made a double take when he noticed Double D.

"No, maybe not there," Nat kept talking, "how about that one place-"

"Dude, shut up," Kevin said as he grabbed Nat by the shirt.

Nat cringed and backed away from the redhead. "Hey, hey! Watch the shirt."

Kevin continued to stare at Double D, eyes wide and lips parted.

"What are you staring at?" Nat looked to see and he gaped at the sight of Double D. "Whoa 'Dara," he said, and Kevin glared at him.

"What?" Nat asked, "She... she looks..."

"Like a total babe," Kevin finished for him.

Nat shrugged. "Yeah, that."

Kevin glared at him again. "Stop looking at her."

Nat frowned. "At least I'm not _staring _at her like you are," he teased.

"What?" Kevin shook his head. "I'm not staring," he said that as he turned to look at Double D again.

"Mhm," Nat nodded, "you're right. You're definitely not staring at her."

"Cut the sarcasm," Kevin said as he turned his back to Double D.

Nat grinned as he noticed Double D walking towards them.

"What?" Kevin asked.

"Greetings, Kevin and Nathan," Double D smiled once she reached them. She wasn't expecting to see them until after gym class, but there they were, and she knew they had already seen her.

Kevin's eyes widened and he swallowed hard. Nat smirked at him before looking at Eddwarda over Kevin's shoulder.

"Hey sweet cheeks," he greeted with a wave.

Eddwarda sighed and looked at Kevin. He still had his back to her.

"Kevin?" She asked.

The redhead bit his lower lip and slowly turned around. "... Hi."

Eddwarda blinked and was about to say more when Nat was by her side and putting his arm around her.

"So... how's it going?" He asked, grinning at her. Eddwarda wrinkled up her nose.

Kevin groaned. "Nat, seriously? Quit that. You're being creepy, man."

Nat held Eddwarda close, "I think Double Cutie's fine with it."

"Well..." Eddwarda looked away, trying to find a nice way to say 'No, I actually don't. Leave me alone.'

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Stop it," he grabbed Nat and pulled him off Eddwarda.

Nat pouted. "You never let me have any fun."

"Because your type of fun is weird!"

Eddwarda looked down at her feet as she smiled. She could feel the heat rise to her cheeks, and she was mentally thanking Kevin for that. Nat was a good friend, sure, but really, she wasn't into his flirting.

"Uh, D-Dara," Kevin cleared his throat, "um, you... you look... um, nice!" He smiled crookedly.

Eddwarda looked up and giggled a bit. "Thank you, Kevin. I was going for a new look."

"Why?" Nat blatantly asked, and Kevin nudged him. "Ow," he whispered, his tone sounding dramatic.

Eddwarda covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. "Oh well, I am merely trying out something different..." she trailed off. She had to make some excuse. She didn't want Kevin or Nat to know the real reason why... "to see how I like it. Oh, you know how we are in high school, always experimenting with new styles and such."

Kevin and Nat nodded.

"Yeah," Nat said, "sure. I guess."

Kevin looked at him and Nat shrugged.

"Well," Kevin spoke up, "I think it's cool. And you won't have to worry about Nat here bugging you about it." He patted Nat's back, "I'll keep him off you."

Double D squinted her eyes. "I can handle it myself, Kevin."

"Oh... uh," Kevin rubbed the back of his neck, "y-yeah, I know you can! But I-" The bell rang and Kevin sighed in relief.

Double D shook her head. "I should get to class."

"Do you want us to walk you-"

"No, no. I can walk myself, thank you very much." She smiled at them though, "I will see you two later." And with that, she walked off.

Kevin watched her a moment before turning to look at Nat.

Nat furrowed his eyebrows as he thought over what the two had just said about him. "Hey..." he sounded offended, "what were you trying to say when you said you'll keep me off her?" He asked Kevin. "It's just me."

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, exactly."


End file.
